How Things Could Have Been
by Jin Hikari
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto always had a strong will and a sturdy head on his shoulders. All he wanted was a little respect and someone to care about him, but who would be willing to get close enough to a village pariah like him? He's about to find out just how many people would be capable of doing just that, and gain some devastating power along the way.
1. Yo! The Name's Uzumaki Naruto!

_**Alright, so I know it's not chapter eleven, but it's my second update in less than a week. I recently got a very...thorough...review of the misconceptions in the first chapter, so I devised this re-write. Yes, I kept the first person POV for the FIRST FEW PARAGRAPHS. I liked the introduction too much to ditch it. However, I believe the result of the rewrite explains a few things many of you have questions with. You can all thank Corrupted Druid for the 9,000 word chapter to read through. Fear not, the bridge battle is coming out next chapter and we'll leap right back into the awesomeness.**_

_**I am currently aware of one plot hole that this rewrite leaves, and that is exactly when Naruto receives the Hiraishin Scroll from Sarutobi. This will be covered in a Fragments chapter, which will go into production after the Nami arc is over. Aside from that, I hope you all enjoy the shiny new first chapter, and that those of you who were turned off by it before will like the writing now and support the rest of the story. Think of this as a 100 review-mark gift, seeing as I did break the 100 mark with the addition of chapter 10.**_

_**Thank you!**_

_**Update as of 10-7-2012: Okay, hopefully I've fixed most of the issues as to Sasuki being OOC for a female version of Sasuke. I'm in want of a Beta Reader at the moment, and no, that doesn't mean I'll take the first person who says they want to. I want a semi-literate one, and need proof of that semi-literacy before I decide. So feel free to offer, but this isn't a first-come-first-serve type of deal, alright?**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own what's going on with Naruto's vision.**_

* * *

Yo, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, future ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village and soon-to-be Hokage! I train my hardest day in and day out to meet these goals and protect those I care about. My class and I, involving many talented Shinobi-to-be with amazing skills, all have the same goal in common; to become the best we can be, go as far as we want and who knows, maybe we might save the world someday.

I'm not too special myself, just your average, run-of-the-mill ninja, but that's all gonna change pretty dang soon, I may not be all that skilled, but with a lot of hard work I'm going to be the greatest Hokage. My classmates, who are all really amazing, doubt it and call me dead-last and loser, but you know what, they just don't know who they're messing with!

Anyway, there are a few people I see worth pointing out. First off there's Haruno Sakura; an amazing Kunoichi in her own right, but her Chakra reserves are_ way_ too low even for a Kunoichi. However the upside to this issue of hers is that her chakra control is almost absolutely flawless. Did I mention she was drop-dead gorgeous? Too bad she's all caught up in finding "Mr. Right" one day. Otherwise she might just lower her too-high standards a bit and go after guys like me. Hey, I said might didn't I?

Then there's Nara Shikamaru. He may be lazy, but I've seen him do work and he's like some kind of freaking genius. His head may be caught up in the clouds, and he may pass things off as troublesome every chance he gets, but he's a great guy and one of my friends. He's also got this crazy-ass power to control people with his shadow. It runs in his family. I think it's called a kekkei genkai. There are a lot of people with those in this year's class.

Take Hyuuga Hinata for example. She's kinda shy and faints a lot, but her family has this weird thing that they do with their eyes – I think it's called a Doujutsu – that's supposed to give them near three hundred sixty degree vision and the ability to see chakra over a long distance, though she hasn't been able to use hers yet. Her father's pretty harsh on her about it from what I've heard, but that's only because he thinks she can be the best. I can tell that even through that ice-cold aura he wants her to be great.

Then there's Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba's kinda stuck up and crazy, but he's an overall good guy and a laughing riot. Akamaru, his pet dog, attracts the attention of a lot of girls because he's so small and cute, but when they fight using their family's special techniques Akamaru turns into a Kiba look-alike and they get really fast and strong. Believe me; I've seen them go at it while training. They tear everything apart. Although, stationary targets are easy to hit, so it's probably not my judgment you should trust.

Another good example is Aburame Shino. This guy's a freak through and through. He seems emotionless and always hides his face with dark sunglasses and a collar. Needless to say people think he's pretty weird, and that's without adding the fact that his family controls bugs and allows them to take nest inside their body as a ninjutsu tool. Ugh, talk about creepy.

Then there's Akimichi Chouji. He's a great guy, if not a little addicted to chips, but don't call him fat or he'll go berserk. His family's power lets him increase his body size to that of a giant ball, kinda like in the circus. You know, those people who walk on the rubber balls. Only this time, they're the balls. Trust me when I say you don't want him hitting you with that. It's like a tank plowing over a tin can.

Yamanaka Ino, she's about as strong as Sakura with a similar personality; she's always looking for "Mr. Right." What an idiot. Her family's powers let her jump into your body and take control of it. The downside is if she misses she's open for attack. Something about a slow-moving but long-range technique that only moves in a straight line doesn't seem very safe to me.

Finally, there's Uchiha Sasuki. She's really strong; strong enough for me to consider her my rival in fact. She's got a similar power to Hinata's, only hers lets her copy anyone's Jutsu, not including those special powers I was telling you about before. Some people say she can also see into the future with it, but that's only what I've heard. She hasn't woken it up yet, but when she does she says she'll be the best ninja in Konoha. Yeah, sorry to break it to ya, but that title is reserved for Uzumaki Naruto.

Most of the male population of the village, sadly including an otherwise pretty cool Kiba, is after her for her looks or her power. I don't want anything to do with her. I mean, she can be so stuck up sometimes that I'm surprised that any guy would want to date her. Anyways, I'm heading towards the academy right now. Today is the day we start sparring with partners and I can't wait to see who I get to fight.

* * *

Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Class had been going on for at least fifteen minutes now, and there was no sight of Uchiha Sasuki. When he realized this he couldn't help but be slightly curious as to where his rival was. She was typically the first one into class and the first one out as well. Graduation was coming up soon. Could she have been promoted without having to take the exam and already be under an apprenticeship with a Jounin Instructor?

"_Nah,"_ Naruto thought, _"If that happened Iruka-sensei would be droning on and on about that instead of the combat rules."_The blonde sat back in his chair, feet propped up on his desk and arms wrapped behind his head. His face conveyed a bored expression as he waited.

"Naru…" Iruka's imminent lecture about Naruto's manners while in class were cut short by the door opening and a female ravenette clad in dark blue and white walked through the door. "Sasuki-san, what are you doing…"

"Uchiha are strong. Don't underestimate me just because of something like this. I'm fine," the Uchiha spat at Iruka with something akin to venom in her tone. She stalked up to her seat and promptly took it, waiting for the lecture to continue. Iruka shook his head. Against his better judgment he was going to let the girl attend the class, even in light of her latest comment. There wasn't much he could do about it anyways. She would have been stopped by now if anyone could have done the job.

"Very well. Now as I was saying, I want you all to make sure that your partner isn't too severely injured when we spar today. I know we've put you through basic combat training before, but this is the first time in a while you'll be going at it with your chakra allowed."

Naruto sighed as the Chunin continued. He'd wondered why all the students from last year's graduating class had laughed when he got Iruka this term. All the comments about 'Motor Mouth no Jutsu' were starting to make sense all of a sudden. Naruto sighed again, wondering what he could do with the time left before matches started. _"I suppose that since there's going to be chakra use and all I could come up with at least some kind of strategy,"_ the blonde thought.

After a long fifteen minutes he'd concluded that he'd have the best chance fighting with someone who wasn't from a clan. Though, that was unlikely since it seemed like everyone from his starting class was from some form of clan or another. _"What the hell is with that anyways?'"_ he thought. Was it really that unlikely that unless your parents were famous ninja you weren't going to cut it as one?

Now, some may argue that he wasn't from any special family and didn't have genetics working for him, but they would be wrong. Naruto knew full well about his heritage. Well, his father's side of it at least. He wasn't quite sure where the name Uzumaki had come from, but he was definitely sure it was his mother's surname. The only record he could get on the Uzumaki had been out of a few stories that the Sandaime had told him, seeing as the civilians currently hated him with a passion.

Before he could further contemplate the reasoning behind the decision to make it as hard as possible for Naruto to find out anything about half of his family tree, Iruka had begun to announce the matches.

"Alright," the scarred Chunin stated, "we'll compete tournament style. That means one on one matches until the best two fighters here are up against one another. In other words, you'll have to conserve your chakra and not use too much in any one battle. Also, jutsu aside from the three academy basics are prohibited," with that remark Iruka shot a knowing glance to a majority of the class. No clan techniques. "If you touch the floor outside the ring then you're disqualified. Does everybody understand?" he asked. When he didn't sense any antagonism to the guidelines, he picked two students and began, motioning them to the ring, a ten foot in diameter circle towards the front of the classroom.

Naruto was a bit relieved when Hinata and Ino were the first to spar with each other. It meant he wouldn't have to hurt either of the girls. He was a bit of a chauvinist, if he was being honest with himself. However, that philosophy did not apply to the arrogant Uchiha heiress. Even if he didn't want to hit girls, she was so full of herself that most of the time he just forgot just what his values were and wanted to smack her down a few pegs. Maybe it fell into the category that he had to prove he was superior, which would still overlap with the chauvinistic philosophy, but he really didn't care enough to spend that much time analyzing it.

Ino and Hinata duked it out for all of three minutes before the platinum blonde managed to force the Hyuuga girl out of the ring with a solid, chakra-injected cross to the cheek. Despite the throbbing, numb sensation spreading through her face, Hinata's expression instantly fell at her defeat. She could see her father's stern look now. She was no doubt a disappointment to her clan more so now than ever. She sulked back to her seat, a black cloud of gloom floating over her head that Naruto took quick note of, a pang of pity shooting through his chest. He may not have known much about Hinata's home life, but he could expect that Hyuuga expectations were pretty harsh.

"Good work out there, Hinata. You did great," he said, shooting one of his signature grins at the girl. Her face reddened even more severely than it had from the attack on it from earlier, and she thrust her head down onto her desk. Naruto just shrugged. He'd tried his best to cheer her up, and if she was still sulking then there was nothing he could do about it.

The rest of the matches flowed just as smoothly and without much trouble other than a foul or two. Naruto also admitted to himself that he didn't like fighting girls because they weren't afraid of going for the crotch shot. The thought of that pain made him shiver.

The final match of the first round had been, conveniently enough for the blonde, himself against Sasuki. They both stepped into a fighting stance in their own sides of the ring. Naruto immediately noticed that something was wrong when Sasuki took up a very sloppy version of her clan's battle stance. She always made a point of never using her own taijutsu style against him on the grounds, seeing as it would be 'an embarrassment to use the style against him, seeing as he was so weak.' Moreover, even when she did use her clan's taijutsu she made it look perfect. Now though, her legs were too close together which left her open for sweep kicks and her hands were only raised to half the height they usually were. She'd also forgotten to bend her knees into it, severely impacting her balance.

Naruto, being Naruto, took this as a form of challenge. Did she really think he couldn't take advantage of the opportunities she'd presented him with? He'd show her.

When Iruka swung his arm down and began the match, Naruto moved in at a quick pace. With chakra boosting his speed, he ducked low and slammed his right forearm against her legs while his left slammed against her stomach. The opposing directions of the two strikes sent her flying into the air. She landed with a dull thud against the hardwood floor as all their classmates gasped. She was still in the circle, as Naruto had planned.

"I'm not so terrible that you need to give me openings to strike at. Come on Sasuki-teme, fight like you mean it!" the blonde exclaimed. Sasuki struggled to her feet, but didn't respond to his taunt. She took her stance with the same mistakes, and his time when the blonde rushed in just a little angrier she began to put up a bit of defense. She blocked his initial punch to the left eye and continued to move lazily about him as he threw more punches. One particularly quick combination sent the Uchiha stumbling back after a punch to the face. She regained her footing before she exited the ring though, and quickly recomposed herself into a stance.

Naruto began to grow frustrated with the Uchiha. She had finally begun to attack, if you could call her punches a form of attack. Every now and then she would let out a weak jab-cross combination that the blonde could always deflect or move around in some way. It was always a jab with the right and a cross with the left, never anything else. Wait a few seconds, punch, repeat.

"Oi, Sasuki-teme, what's with the pussy punches? Do you have cramps or something?" The blonde's response was a quick but undedicated huff from the ravenette followed by a slightly more spirited roundhouse kick that Naruto easily caught. The mischievous twinkle in his eyes showing that he'd found the perfect game to play if he wanted her to take him seriously.

"No, really, what is it? Did your cat die? I heard the Uchiha had ninja cats. Kinda gay if you ask me," the Uzumaki's voice trailed off after that comment, and Sasuki's eyebrows twitched slightly before she threw a slightly longer combination that forced Naruto to leave an , Sasuki took advantage of it only to tap him lightly in the stomach with her fist. For some reason this infuriated the blonde. Maybe one last push would work.

"Aww, did your Onii-san not get to play dollies with you because he was on a…"

He couldn't even finish his sentence when a heavily chakra-injected fist found its way to his jaw. The blonde went flying across the room, smashing into the wall and leaving a small Naruto-shaped crater in it.

* * *

"DON'T YOU _EVER_ MENTION MY BROTHER!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, charging at the boy stuck in the wall with the intent to kill in her eyes. Iruka and the recently arrived Mizuki got a hold on her before she got too close, but the ravenette still struggled to escape with the same piercing glare on her face.

Naruto slowly brought a hand to his jaw, feeling the separation of the bone and wincing at the pain before relocating the broken parts with a small clicking noise. The familiar hum of the Kyuubi's chakra began healing him within mere seconds.

It had been a particularly rough beating that introduced him to his tenant. In fact, it was the first one he ever remembered. It wasn't one of the bi-monthly assassination attempts; those had only begun a few years ago, but it was after the angry mobs had started after him. One day, around the time he'd enrolled in the ninja academy, they'd grown a pair and had the nerve to attack him. He swore he'd recognized one of the old farts that the Sandaime hung out with all the time in the council meetings there, encouraging people to join in the fray and the chaos, but he hadn't put much thought into it seeing as he was running against the stinging pain from the wounds on his back and calves.

He hadn't been able to run forever, and when they finally caught him they beat him until the only thing keeping him awake was the violent, repetitive, throbbing pain that shot through his system like an antagonistic heartbeat. He'd shut his eyes, allowing himself to go numb. It was a skill he'd picked up so long ago due to the hateful glares of the villagers that it had become reflex, and a few short minutes after doing so he fell into unconsciousness.

He'd awoken to find himself in a sewer of sorts, only the water did not soak through his clothes and the pipes radiated with chakra instead of sewage. He'd wandered for what felt like hours, maybe even days, until he came across a huge cage. At first he'd wondered what was behind it, and then he'd seen the massive red creature full of rage. He hadn't been curious after that.

The demon didn't seem to share the blonde's need for silence, and the conversation hadn't been pleasant. The fox had revealed itself with fangs bared and nine tails swishing violently behind it, a scare tactic it knew would work. "_**You're the little dipshit kit that thatfool of a Hokage sealed me in? It would be a laughable situation, if I wasn't the one in it,**_" it bellowed.

It had gone on to try to break Naruto's spirit with tales of how he was here because he was hated, the killing intent slowly wafting out from the cage shaking the small boy's confidence helping all the more with the psychological abuse. Finally though, one last comment was made that made something click inside the blonde. At that point, the Kyuubi had been guffawing at his own story, and the malicious laughter only increased in volume and resonance when these words were spoken.

"_**And the best part is that it had to be you. Out of all the children in Konoha, the Yondaime chose to seal me into his own son. You weren't even a day old. That says something about you, kit. Not only did your parents not care about you in the slightest, but on top of that they made sure to get rid of you by using you as the Jinchuuriki with a jutsu that killed your father and left you with me."**_

His father was the Yondaime? Then that meant that…what was it the old geezer had always told him about the fight? _"He did what he had to, no matter how great the loss to himself. He sacrificed so much in the name of the village. One day, you'll be able to fully appreciate that."_

"You're wrong." the blonde whispered, his trembling stopping as the words gave him confidence. The Kyuubi stopped, leering at Naruto with all the killer intent that it could muster. The blonde boy stood from the fetal position that he'd taken hours ago, standing with newfound confidence.

"_**What did you just say to me, BOY?"**_ the demon fox asked, his voice echoing on the emphasis of the last word.

"My father used me," there was a brief pause as the boy tried to gather words to voice his sudden insight," because there was no way he'd ask _anyone_ else to give up their child. He used me because he had to. He _died_ because he had to. I understand now…you're the demon here. Not me. The villagers don't know the whole story, but I do! And you know what…I'm gonna make my dad_ proud of me_!" the blonde shouted, his figure starting to fade from his mindscape. "I'll make _everyone_ proud of me!" His figure had fully faded from the mental realm, and the Kyuubi scoffed in annoyance.

Seconds later, the young blonde boy woke up from his week-long coma with the shout of "I'M GONNA BE HOKAGE-TTEBAYO!"

* * *

He'd asked the Sandaime for any help he could get in achieving this new goal, and after he was fully recovered, the elderly man who had been like a grandfather to him allowed him to scan through the private library that belonged to all the Hokage. Amidst several textbooks and village records, he'd found a slip of paper that hummed with chakra the second he touched it, revealing a complex seal array that looked like little more than scribbles to the child, and out popped a drawer filled with a couple of Jutsu scrolls. Little did he know, Sarutobi had been eyeing the boy through his crystal ball with ANBU ready to escort him out should he tamper with things of…higher importance…than a few jutsu he was likely to be incapable of learning because of his young age. It amused the old man how he was instantly drawn to the Fuuinjutsu scrolls.

"_You'll do your dad proud, Naruto-kun,"_ Sarutobi thought as he switched off the crystal ball. He had paperwork to do, and the ANBU had been instructed to escort him out in an hour or so if there were no orders otherwise. He'd chosen a friendly one who most likely wouldn't be anything like the villagers that had attacked. He was currently reviewing the facts, but what the council had given him was so garbled that it could take months to work out. By the time that the attackers, almost all of whom were civilians, had all been confirmed they could be living with new identities in a different part of Konoha, or Hi no Kuni, or even a different elemental nation altogether. He wasn't even sure he had the right names seeing as most of those who had appeared on the list were persons who the council had some sort of problem with. Perhaps the most ridiculous was the fact that the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, Teuchi, was on the list.

Sarutobi was no fool to be manipulated by the pathetic attempts of his council, but with this sort of misinformation in place there was no way he could successfully enforce his law. He couldn't claim the leaders corrupt, as in all other cases but those involving Naruto they were efficient and effective. Switching all of them out would be too big of a risk. Besides, several of them were clan heads, and he wouldn't want another situation like what had happened with the Uchiha clan.

Sarutobi's own kind should have been easier to deal with. He was the Hokage, which meant he had absolute power over the village's Shinobi Forces. Finding and arresting the one Chunin that had blasted the blond with a Goukakyuu around the feet to prevent his escape shouldn't have been that hard. But again, the facts had been iffy and there had been no confirmed identity for the man; rather he had fifteen unconfirmed ones. He'd have to talk to the ANBU and have a watch set up for Naruto.

Throughout the years things continued like this. Naruto would be attacked, and the Hokage would have him medically attended to, but the attackers always seemed to slip through the system with some obscure loophole or missing fact that was essential to the case. Naruto never remembered the faces, which was expected. When you're five years old and get mobbed, your adrenaline would spike so high that it was a surprise you didn't black out.

The Third had enrolled Naruto in the academy two years early hoping that it would keep him off the streets and allow for more thorough investigation should he be harassed, but that only seemed to encourage them to escalate from angry mobs to straight-up violence. Why was it so hard for the man to keep one child safe? He tried to get help from the council to protect the boy, but they downright refused and had the power to do so. Not even the ANBU he'd posted had been able to say what had happened, and he suspected the Danzou's "Ne" had a hand in that in some way or another. He could have dealt with them, but the time just wasn't right for it. The casualties would be too great. It was growing frustrating and heartbreaking for the old man to see the young, happy boy like Naruto on hospital trips. He'd even gone as far as to clear his schedule and spend Naruto's entire seventh birthday with the boy just to ward off attackers. He was proud to say it worked, especially with clones in the office to do his grunt-work for him.

Not every day was like that though. The council had demanded that Sarutobi do his own work, and that using clones to do so just so the old man could watch over a single child was just as good as him neglecting his responsibilities. Soon Naruto began picking up skills. He would run farther and faster each day he was attacked. In fact, the week of his birthday was the only time he ever let himself get caught anymore. Sarutobi had asked him why once, and Naruto had replied with a knowing smile. "I know how they feel," was all he'd said.

"_He figured out all of it after that. He knew that I knew about the Kyuubi, and I told him that I hadn't spoken to it since; let alone tried to use its chakra. I had to tell him I stole three of the scrolls from his library. I couldn't help it. The drawer popped out of nowhere and they looked so cool. Who would have known that they were about the Rasengan, Kage Bunshin, and Hiraishin? I still can't believe the old man is giving me dad's kunai to learn it with after I turn Genin."_

Sarutobi had agreed to keep all of Naruto's secrets in return that he followed his instructions when it came to those jutsu. He'd learned the Kage Bunshin from the man straight away, thanks to his massive chakra levels. He'd been working on the Rasengan for the past few years now, though. There was still little progress. Sure, he could make a decently powerful one, but he needed two clones to help him rotate and add the chakra. It took all his focus just to maintain the powerful sphere, and it took him forever to charge it.

Shaking himself from his small reverie, Naruto pulled himself from the wall with a smirk. "I'm gonna rip your head off!" Sasuki yelled at him.

Naruto stared up, giving her a cheshire grin. "Sure, but you got ring out and the fight's over, so maybe some other time."

"I say let her do it. I don't mind waiting a bit to pound Ino into the ground," Kiba piped up with a ridiculous laugh. Ino glared daggers at him, but the Inuzuka remained focused on the scene.

"Naruto," Iruka spoke up as he walked towards the blonde, leaving Sasuki in Mizuki's care. "Do you know what happened to Sasuki over the weekend?"

The blonde shook his head no. He'd never particularly cared about Sasuki's personal life. Though, upon looking at her with her bloodshot eyes and her ratty hair, he'd have to say it was pretty major. She wasn't the type to come to school looking anything but her best. It was part of her pride as an Uchiha. "What went down?" the blonde asked.

Iruka lead Naruto outside the classroom and began to recount of the events of the Uchiha Massacre to Naruto. His eyes widened. She'd lost everyone? To her own brother? "Why is she even here? Wouldn't that cause, like, a severe mental breakdown?" he asked.

Iruka nodded. "Your guess is as good as mine," he replied with a sigh, "but for now I want you to go in and apologize to her."

Naruto looked back at the door for a second. What would he want if someone yelled at him about his mother teaching him better or his father instilling him with some common sense? At least an apology, that's for sure. So, the blonde swallowed his pride, took a deep breath and marched through the door. Almost instantly Sasuki was prone to attack him again, pain reflecting in her bloodshot, deep onyx eyes. She charged and threw another solid, chakra injected hook at his temple. The blonde caught it without ever taking his eyes off of her own orbs, the bones in his hand crackling lightly as they fractured and then healed in rapid succession.

"I understand…and I'm sorry," he whispered that part. He wouldn't want anyone to hear lest the great Naruto Uzumaki admit to his own mistakes.

"What could you possibly understand!?" the Uchiha questioned loudly, yanking her hand from his and running from the classroom.

"Everything," the blonde replied to no one in particular. As rude, insensitive, and self-centered as it sounded, he couldn't help but think about just how blissful her ignorance to his own issues was.

* * *

Naruto strode into the orphanage with expectant eyes. If he was right, she'd definitely be here. Then, plain as day and with a crowd of small children to boot, Uchiha Sasuki fell into his line of vision. She must have felt him staring as she turned and glared at him with resentment. He tried to venture closer, to somehow explain his actions to her, but she was dragged away by the children with the same glare she wore on her face. They must have heard the caretaker slip up and spill a bit of information at one point, because he swore he heard the word Demon being used, which was really unusual to hear from the younger populace of Konoha. Sasuki's stare took on a confused quirk as she was walked away, and she only kept looking long enough to see Naruto turn to head to his room in order to grab his wallet before going out for a bowl of ramen. He had until six to get back, two hours before the other kids, but that was more than enough time for Ichiraku's.

The blonde patted his stomach in content. Nothing hit the spot like a good bowl of ramen. However, he'd noted the date on the calendar. October ninth. He was an idiot who had completely forgotten about his own birthday, but there was no way out of it now. The sound of a bottle breaking made his ears perk, and he could tell that several people were now following him. He continued for a few blocks before ducking into an empty alleyway.

"_It's for them, my father, the old man, and everyone else. I know what's going to happen. I should be used to this by now. It's what they need."_

The slightly disturbing thoughts of the boy were interrupted by the sound of a kunai whistling through the air. One would guess that Naruto's sense of reason towards this particular subject was either completely backwards or simply nonexistent, but mental issues aside the blonde donned his masochistic face and turned just as the kunai whizzed by, slicing across his forehead and clipping a bit of the shag off of his bangs.

"Yeah, pain still hurts," the blonde finally said as the crowd came within touching, and more importantly stabbing, distance. The blonde tried to take a step back, only to find he'd been trapped in a corner. When had that happened? Had he been backing up the whole time and not realizing it? He supposed that he had no other choice than to do just what he did. He shut his eyes and screamed.

* * *

His return to the orphanage was much slower than his exit. He was dragging one leg, probably broken, behind him. His arm hung loosely at his side – also broken – while the other one acted as support. There were tears in his black T-shirt where several weapons had poked into his flesh, the blood now dried into the dark fabric. Miraculously his pants were salvageable, only a few tears here and there. His face was a different story, though. His nose was contorted at a painful angle, more than implying a break. One eye was swollen shut, and the whisker marks that donned his cheeks had all been cut open and into his mouth and jaw bones, which was by far one of the more disturbing injuries he'd ever received.

A stifled gasp gave away the Uchiha girl, who had been out training until she heard Naruto arrive. Sasuki dashed over to his side, completely forgetting her earlier anger as she examined her blonde classmate. "Naruto, who the hell did this? Rabid fanboys?"

Naruto chuckled as a small trail of blood dripped out of his mouth. "Nah, not them this time. Kiba would have scratched me up before he stabbed me, and that kid in the green spandex that stalks you…I've never actually seen him use a bladed weapon before…hm."

Sasuki was more than a little disturbed by his attempted humor. "If this is what you meant by 'you understand,' then I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell you that Itachi didn't kill me," she said, surprised that she'd gone as far as to joke with him. She was mature enough to accept his apology, even if he didn't get to hear that she did.

"Yeah, give this the night, I'll heal right up. Mind helping me over to my room though?" the blonde asked in a casual tone. "Crawling with my right arm and leg tends to have me go in circles more than straight lines."

Sasuki complied quickly, helping the blonde limp over to his dorm. He had his own room, which Sasuki thought was a pretty sweet deal. Then again, he was the oldest one here, so it had to come with some form of benefit. She quickly broke out a first aid kit, splinting his arm and leg and administering an antiseptic to all of his cuts and stab wounds. She wrapped him up thoroughly, but avoided his face. She didn't even want to go near those cuts in his cheeks.

"So who did this to you? And why would they?" she asked. Naruto stiffened, if at all possible.

He had two options. He could tell her everything and probably damage her psyche even more, or he could try to shake her off his trail.

"It doesn't matter why, but let's just say that the old man isn't gonna be happy when he hears his Shinobi are acting up again. I was outnumbered and more than likely outclassed."

Sasuki sighed, "If you don't want to tell me then just say so."

Naruto nodded, seemingly in agreement. "Alright, you want to know why? I suppose it all started the day I was born. My parents died during the Kyuubi attack," the blonde said, knowing it was a partial truth. "Odd enough that that was the day I was born, but me living while they died takes the cake. My dad was a Shinobi, and my mom was a Kunoichi on maternity leave. She died during the birth, he died in battle."

"Now before you ask anything, I want you to know that I've never been sure of the details. It's always been a little blurry. From what I can shape, they somehow think that I'm the Kyuubi reincarnated. It's not too bad now that I'm in the academy, but a lot of people lost their families that day and they get a little out of control around now. Don't worry, most of it will be over after tomorrow," the blonde said.

"This is going to happen again!?" the ravenette asked, the shock evident in her tone. Naruto mentally chided himself for letting that slip. He regretfully nodded before rolling to lie on his back.

"Hey, you should probably get some sleep," he said, trying to change the subject. "Knowing you, you probably have some huge training regimen planned for the day off we have tomorrow. You'll need your energy."

Sasuki realized that he'd all but shut down on her, and right now arguing to try to get him to open back up wasn't worth the time or the energy it would take. He obviously didn't want to discuss the situation any further. A decent idea popped into her head. She was now curious as to just what made up Uzumaki Naruto, and if this worked she could keep tabs on him. "Actually," she said, "I was thinking about checking out the sparring rings at the festival tomorrow, but I need a male escort because of the stupid theme. Honestly, who makes a couple's festival to celebrate an attack on the village?" she asked.

Naruto chuckled, "Well, it is supposed to be a festival of new beginnings. And besides, they probably needed to repopulate after the attack, so what better way than encouraging romance?" the blonde offered. Sasuki huffed at the logic. Naruto was not supposed to make sense.

"Alright then, let's show them how little the requirement actually means by going as a pair. No romance necessary," Sasuki replied with a devious smirk.

Naruto looked at her inquisitively, but nodded and went along with it. "I'll try to stay in one piece long enough to escort your royal ass to the festival, then. Now get some rest."

* * *

Sasuki nodded, resisting the urge to hit him for his remark. She stood up and gave the blonde a silent wave as she left his room.

Naruto awoke early, tearing off his bandages and splints as he hopped out of his bed and picked out a new set of clothes. After a quick shower he realized the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, and after a quick thought decided to head down by the small lake to train. It was going to be a hot day, so he might be in need of the water for a swim to cool down anyways.

He secured his ninja gear tightly to his clothes and dashed out the door, running across town via rooftop at speeds that no one would typically register to one of his favorite training spots, given the weather. He touched down lightly in the clearing after he leapt from a tree branch and into a front flip. He was surprised to hear someone already occupying the area. Uchiha Sasuki was panting heavily, her breathing louder than the small waterfall a few yards away. Her eyes were bloodshot, and the trees were littered with kunai and shuriken.

"How long have you been up?" he asked. The girl turned around harshly at the sound of his voice, but upon realizing that it was Naruto she relaxed slightly.

"A few hours…I couldn't sleep. You're looking better. Medical Ninjutsu, much? Didn't think you had the chakra control for it," she commented.

"Yeah, something like that. You should really take it easy, though. I know you don't want to talk about it, but something really bad happened to you, and you should be resting," the Uzumaki countered.

Sasuki huffed at his comment, "I told you yesterday, Uchiha are strong. I'm fine."

Naruto eyed the weakened Uchiha. Her legs were trembling, she was in a sort of haze, and it appeared that most of the weapons she'd thrown had missed their mark entirely. He launched forwards and swept her legs out from under her before catching her falling form and setting her to the ground. "The Sasuki I know could have dodged that kick. I know you don't want to admit it, but the…" he searched for a euphemism that wasn't 'incident.'

"Massacre," she finished for him, not mincing words. Uchiha were strong, after all.

"Yeah," Naruto mumbled. Honestly, how masochistic could one girl be? "The massacre affected you. So sit down, rest, and take a break, alright."

He wasn't asking. That was fine; she wasn't one to take orders from an idiot. "Shut up, dobe. Let's keep going," Sasuki mumbled, picking herself up as she broke into a fighting stance.

Naruto, surprisingly, took a cross-legged sitting position and proceeded to shut his eyes and form the ram seal. "You can do what you want, but I'm going to sit right here and meditate. I hear that's the best way to get more chakra."

Sasuki fumed. This idiot was nearly intolerable. If he hadn't gone and gotten himself beaten half to dead last night, she wouldn't have even bothered with him for this long. She had a lot of training to do if she wanted to follow through on her promise to avenge her clan.

It hadn't even taken fifteen minutes for Naruto to burst up from his sitting position with a complaint about how bored he was. Sasuki rolled her eyes and continued to work through her family's kata. Uchiha style taijutsu was a finicky creature. Seeing as the Sharingan was such a convenient tool for reading an opponent's movements most of the higher level techniques required knowing what would happen a split second before it did. Perhaps if the movements were practiced enough they could reach speeds to which it wouldn't matter when they were launched so long as you dodged or blocked your opponent's attack, but often it was encouraged that the higher level kata only be learned when you'd activated your Sharingan. As such, Sasuki only knew about one third of her family's total style. The rest was locked up in a scroll that could only be unsealed with the Sharingan. How that worked, Sasuki didn't know.

The blonde jumped up and switched from the ram seal to a cross. A few Kage Bunshin appeared around the area, and the blonde went to work beating the crap out of himself like any mentally healthy person is able to. As he did so, he made an excellent show of ducking, weaving, and sometimes even plowing his way around and through his attackers.

Sasuki quickly took to cracking her knuckles. The idiot knew how to use some sort of solid clone, huh? Well, she did still owe him for making that comment about her brother the other day.

"Hey dobe, send a few of those my way!"

Naruto beamed at her. "Ah, so you're done with your sissy dance movements? Fine by me. Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Instantly fifteen more Naruto clones sprung to life and went after Sasuki with a flurry of kicks and punches. All, of course, were poorly executed and easy to read even without her family's bloodline.

"Careful. It's those sissy dance moves that are kicking your ass."

The fighting on both fronts continued for at least forty-five minutes until a majority of the clones were gone. Suddenly struck with inspiration, the blonde called two of the clones to his side, forming a tightly compacted ball of chakra that rotated rapidly. The sound of the chakra caught Sasuki's ear, and her eyes snapped towards him after finishing off the last of her assailants. Naruto's eyes were fierce as the Rasengan finished charging and he dashed forwards, slamming it into the chest of a clone. Said clone was launched backwards, picking up several others on the way until they hit a tree and dispersed simultaneously. The Rasengan continued to fly, boring into the tree before exploding and toppling the massive oak.

Sasuki's eyes went wide as the blonde's clones dispersed, an arrogant gleam in his eyes. "Thirty second charge. New record," he mumbled. He leaned back against a tree, removing his shirt and tossing it to the side before strolling over to the crick to cool off. Sasuki followed the blonde for the fact that he'd been packing such power behind that last attack if nothing else. _'He's the dobe, but that jutsu was so strong. I've never seen my Katon jutsu do that. What kind of training has he been doing?'_

Sasuki watched the blond as he jumped from the height of a small tree and landed in the water. The resulting splash forced her to move from her current location to avoid getting wet, so she relocated and waited. When he resurfaced, she was standing over him. "What was that?" she asked.

Naruto stared at her for a second before replying carefully, "A…cannonball?" he asked, hoping to dodge her question. Sasuki shook her head.

"Not that, the ball of chakra you made back there," Sasuki said. Naruto smirked.

"Oh, you mean the Rasengan? You saw that?" he asked, scratching the back of his head while wearing that stupid grin of his. Sasuki nodded in response, her glare intensifying. "Well you see, it's kind of supposed to be a secret," the blonde trailed off, "and I'm not supposed to use it unless I'm on a mission, anyways. But, I need to get better at it, so I've been practicing."

Sasuki rolled her eyes, obviously not interested enough to work around any kind of resistance he'd put up. Sure, the technique had been cool, but at this point she wasn't willing to put any more effort into learning about the boy than to ask once. "Whatever," she spoke, venom dripping from her tongue.

Naruto scrambled out of the water when she began to walk away. "Hey, you don't get to be mad at me. You're the one who's prodding into _my_ techniques. Isn't a ninja's greatest weapon supposed to be deception?" the blonde asked. Sasuki stopped in her tracks.

"You're right, I was curious, but now I don't care. Besides, wouldn't that be anyone's reaction if an idiot like you suddenly pulled a technique like that, as well as a technique that makes solid clones out of his ass?" she retorted, turning her head to glance to him.

"They're called Kage Bunshin," Naruto said, attempting another dodge. The Uchiha huffed and turned away. She didn't have time for this.

Naruto jumped in front of her, cutting off her path. It wasn't something he'd typically do for her. After all, he was pretty sure they still more or less hated one another at the moment. Still, they'd managed to train together without getting into a squabble yet, and that had to count for something, right? Okay, okay, so he was genuinely desperate for attention. And even though Sasuki wasn't his favorite person, beggars could not be choosers.

"Alright, you got me, I've been holding back a lot in the academy, but I have my reasons," The blonde said.

"And what would those be?" Sasuki asked. She supposed she could bite if he was offering up information about himself and how he'd learned that one jutsu in particular. His ninjutsu was really the only thing that could be given merit, after all.

"The Old Man asked me to," Naruto replied simply.

Sasuki stared at him with a confused glance. "What do you mean by that? The Hokage taught you those techniques?" she asked.

"No," Naruto replied, "I learned them out of the scrolls I found for them by myself. Hokage-ojiji found out that I'd taken them, but he didn't seem too mad about it. He even let me keep them so long as I don't use any of them until I graduate. Well, as long as I don't use the Kage Bunshin or Rasengan until I graduate. I'm not even allowed to open the scroll for the other one until then. Hokage-ojiji took it and locked it up in his desk," the blonde pouted slightly at this.

Sasuki came to the realization that Naruto had deceived even her. He was learning jutsu that the Hokage didn't want him to; that much was for sure. But to have one he was absolutely refused the right to start learning until he graduated was something the Uchiha felt a pang of envy towards. She'd need to think about this new development when it came to her own decisions on which techniques to study.

It came to her attention that the sparring rings at the festival tonight would be a great place to pick up more things she needed to work on. If Naruto had powerhouse techniques like that under his belt then she'd need some trump cards of her own pretty soon. She had also decided that Naruto was worth watching for the time being. There had to be some method he was using to learn everything as quickly as he did.

"Alright. I'm heading back home. See you tonight, I guess," she said, throwing her arm up quickly as some sort of apathetic wave and heading back towards the village. "Just don't get yourself killed," she added as an afterthought. She was only worried about him because she needed him to get into the festival, after all.

"Yeah, yeah. I know the drill. Eternal wrath of the Uchiha Clan and all that. Take a nap when you get back, for Kami's sake. You're exhausted," the blonde yelled as he waved her off. He knew this, of course, because he'd just sparred with her for nearly an hour. Okay, so maybe it wasn't him doing the actual fighting, but he remembered it pretty well. That was the nifty trick with Kage Bunshin. He always remembered what they did.

Naruto was quick to get back to work sparring with his Kage Bunshin. Then the idea struck him. He'd recalled everything that his clones did, so what if he made a couple and practiced the Rasengan with them? Sure, he didn't pick up any physical abilities they trained. He'd already tried to get better at Taijutsu that way before and it hadn't worked out all that well. This would be ninjutsu though. The two were fundamentally different, so maybe it would work. A wicked grin spread across his face along with the thought.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

* * *

The blonde was amazed at how the use of Kage Bunshin in training increased his learning speed, and also how it tired him out so easily. It had taken until about four in the afternoon, but the day had not been wasted. He had finally learned how to use just one clone to form the Rasengan in a semi-acceptable timeframe. It was totally worth it, in his opinion. He was grinning widely as he strolled through the downtown area of Konoha, but the sudden presence of a large group of people, at least twelve if his ears weren't playing tricks on him, caught his attention. He weighed his options.

'_Beaten into a near coma and then beaten further by an angry Uchiha, or going to a festival with lots of people around WITH said Uchiha…I'll take the festival,'_ the blonde decided as he dashed at full sprint away from the crowd, the chakra he'd used to jumpstart his charge cracking the road. _'Besides, once you get past the scowls, apathy, and superiority complex she's actually kind of cute.'_

A quick mental slap for thinking like a fanboy shook the blasphemous thoughts from his mind, and he redoubled his efforts in arriving at the orphanage unharmed.

He arrived safely, and thanked Kami that he did. The weird guys that dressed like ANBU but definitely weren't with the Hokage's normal security team had almost caught him on that last block, but he'd decided to form a few dozen clones and scatter them at the last minute to throw them off his tail. _"I'll have to tell the old man about them sometime to see if he knows anything. They're new."_

"You're late," came the blunt voice of the Uchiha heiress from Naruto's room. She was leaning against his bedpost, looking right at him. Naruto chuckled at this.

"What happened to taking a nap? I thought I'd have to wake you up when I got here," Naruto asked. Sasuki did her signature eye-roll.

"I did take a nap, but that was eight hours ago. You've been gone all day and the festival is about to start. Let's hurry up and get there, I want to spar."

The sparring rings were a popular attraction amongst the Shinobi forces in Konoha. Exhibition matches drew in more of a crowd, and also let the ninja test their skills against whoever they wanted to. It was a win-win situation.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I got a little caught up in this idea I had, and it worked out pretty well if I do say so myself. Besides, the festival doesn't start for another twenty minutes."

"Still trying to act mysterious, dobe? Fine, whatever, just go change…and bathe before you do. You reek," Sasuki returned. Even Naruto had to admit that after eight hours of training he probably stunk, so he took a change of clothes and a towel into the bathroom with him and ran the water at just the right heat.

Fifteen minutes later he emerged from the restroom with his typical pair of orange pants on, a white T-shirt, and an orange jacket that varied slightly different from the design of his typical one. This was a thinner material, obviously made for summer weather, and instead of the thick, poofy white collar it was a simple orange one you'd find on most dress shirts. He'd folded it down so that it partially covered the blue area on the shoulders. He still had the wooden Uzushiogakure symbol on his left shoulder and in red on the back, which had a vertical blue stripe running up it that met with the same marks on the shoulders. All in all, it looked pretty good on him. Especially since he'd kept it unbuttoned and ditched his green goggles. They were pretty cool for everyday wear, but something told him that they weren't appropriate for a festival.

Sasuki had noticed the slight change in outfit, and was somewhat relieved that her own decisions to change her wardrobe in a slight fashion hadn't gone unreciprocated. There was actually a funny story behind that. When she'd woken up from her nap she had wondered about the occasion. She was going out on the town with Naruto. This decision was so unlike her that people would probably be worried about her mental state after the massacre.

'_As much as I hate to admit it, the dobe could actually be worth something when it comes to strength. If Mother were still around, she'd tell me to be nice to him on account of him being a suitable bachelor. Itachi was in line to be the next clan head, but if something ever happened I would be in charge. They wanted me to marry strong, and weren't ever particularly picky about clan status. Father hated him though, but is it possible he simply had the same misunderstanding? If that was the case, which it likely was, I have no choice other than to acknowledge him as having potential. Probably more so than the other boys I've met,' _she had rolled her eyes as the thought of a particularly mangy classmate of hers came to mind.

She'd come to the conclusion that she might as well express the notion in some small way, which is why she'd decided to discard the navy blue ribbon that typically kept her hair in a ponytail and let it fall in its natural fashion just below her shoulders. It had also made a group of hair fall across the center of her face, making it appear more natural and less like stone. She'd kept her shirt the same; a loose-fitting navy blue top with the Uchiha fan on the back. However, for the first time since she'd entered the academy as a little girl she'd discarded the white ninja-shorts for a knee length skirt in the same color with black biker-shorts underneath for when she began to fight. The change hadn't gone unnoticed either.

'_Wow, her hair's down. It looks really nice. Did she forget to tie it when she woke up, or is she doing it on purpose? Either way, good thing I grabbed my nice jacket,'_ the blonde had thought when they exited the dorm. He wondered if he should mention that she looked good the way she was, but decided against it as doing so would probably just piss her off. Not to mention that he viewed himself as above the need to obsess over her appearance, much like her fanboys did when she wasn't looking.

The two wasted no time in getting to the festival where they were 'greeted' by a Chunin who was probably single or low on cash seeing as he'd taken this job. The twenty-something man glared at Naruto for a second as he entered, almost like he was warning the boy to stay out of trouble. Naruto noticed this, as had Sasuki. Part of her wanted to tell him to stick by her, but not only would that ruin the point as to why she'd posed the request, it was also impossible seeing as he'd gone in a bee-line towards Ichiraku's, offering only a "Good luck in the sparring rings," and a friendly smile.

Naruto sat at the counter with a grin and a chant of, "I'll take the usual, Ayame-neechan."

The twenty-ish girl turned in surprise to see the blonde. He didn't usually come here on what Iruka had informed them was his birthday. She wished she could somehow get a hold of him, but since he had also decided to skip the festival he would miss out on spending time with one of his favorite students.

"Hey there, Naruto-kun," she replied with a warm smile, "I didn't expect to see you here. So who'd you end up using that famous Uzumaki charm to woo and get to come here with you? Was it that Sakura I've heard so much about?"

"I wish," Naruto replied, "but it's nothing like that. I had nothing better to do, and I decided not to 'celebrate' today. Sasuki needed an escort to get her in, so I volunteered."

Ayame chuckled, leaving Naruto with a confused look on his face. "Naruto-kun, that sounds like an excuse a pretty girl uses to ask out the guy she likes on a date."

"IT'S NOT A DATE, NEE-CHAN!" the blonde retorted, a little embarrassed that the same thought had crossed his mind, if only for the briefest of moments. Their conversation ended, unfortunately. The cause of this was Teuchi setting down Naruto's bowl of pork and miso ramen before telling him it was on the house. It was the least the man could do for his favorite customer's birthday.

Naruto blew through the bowl, and another one after that, enjoying the taste of free ramen so much more than paid-for ramen. After that, he jumped up from his seat, waving goodbye to the two ramen chefs. Ayame wished him luck on his pursuit of Sasuki, to which Naruto responded by storming out of the stand, nearly fuming out of the ears with aggravation and embarrassment.

The blonde arrived at the sparring ring just as the next match began. Sasuki was in the ring, waiting for her next opponent as one of the nameless third years was helped out of the ring with a twisted ankle he'd received while trying to maneuver around the agile Uchiha. It was an embarrassing way to lose, but it happens.

"Alright, who would you like to fight next, Sasuki-san?" the referee, Yuuhi Kurenai, a new face among the Jounin crowd that typically ran the booth asked. The Uchiha's eyes scanned the group of challengers before landing on Naruto. Just before she pointed at him though, she noticed he was gesturing towards Kiba and mouthing the words 'kill him, kill him,' over and over. She decided for the sake of maintaining the blonde's image she would trounce the Inuzuka boy and send him off first, ensuring he kept his mouth shut.

"Dog-boy, you're up," Sasuki called in a bored tone, pointing to Kiba. The brunette chose to take this as some kind of signal that she was into him in a romantic sense, and cheerfully jumped into the ring. Boy, was he in for a surprise.

When the signal sounded, Sasuki lunged at him and launched a furious set of combinations that the boy could barely keep up with. Finally he took a solid cross to the face, luckily without the chakra injection. He stepped back a few paces before shaking his head rapidly. "You don't have any idea how long I've been waiting to do this," Sasuki said with a violent smirk.

Naruto found the following beat-down so gruesome he couldn't watch, but so beautiful he had to. Every hit the girl landed knocked the Inuzuka down a few pegs until the boy finally got tired of it and began using his chakra, dodging quickly and landing a ferocious swipe across the girl's left shoulder. A small bit of annoyance crept up Naruto's spine at the scene, until Sasuki ran through a few hand seals and everything flashed blue.

He could still see, of course, but everything was tinted a deep navy color. He saw the chakra flowing through Sasuki and Kiba's bodies, and with a violent flare of her own Sasuki ran through a set of hand seals and released a ball of flames from her mouth. Naruto suddenly felt he could use the jutsu she just had, but fought the urge to as the heat of the flames drove Kiba out of the ring and the blue tinting faded.

"Winner: Uchiha Sasuki," Kurenai announced before escorting the Inuzuka out of the ring. The brunette boy was mumbling about how cold his future girlfriend was, but that he kinda liked it from what Naruto heard. The blonde shook his head in disappointment.

"Uzumaki, get your ass up here," Sasuki called, motioning to him.

The blonde grinned wildly as he accepted the request eagerly by jumping on top of one of the arena's encompassing posts and flipping down in front of her. "You know how the saying goes," he said as he formed the ram seal, "while the fanboys are away, NARUTO GETS TO PLAY."

Sasuki would have laughed at his statement if it weren't for the massive amount of chakra that had just surged through the area, leaving several of the less experienced students with quivering knees.

"You're ridiculous in both your battle cries and your chakra levels," Sasuki replied, dropping into a crisp and flawless stance of her clan's taijutsu style.

"Thanks, I think," the blonde replied, rushing forward and jumping into the air, spinning and throwing two kicks; the first at head level and the second aimed for her stomach. Sasuki ducked under the first one and barely deflected the second, which would have slammed her in the nose thanks to the change in height, with her forearm. She grabbed hold of Naruto's leg and threw him, but the boy skidded to a halt just before exiting the ring after landing thanks to his chakra.

"Gonna have to do better than that, dobe. This isn't a sparring match, and now I'm rested and focused," the girl said, striking another stance as her eyes sharpened.

Naruto grinned as they continued to combat, eventually drawing kunai and pantomiming swordplay. "I'll admit you're durable, Naruto. But your taijutsu isn't too impressive," the Uchiha heiress said, jumping back to the opposite edge of the ring where she began running through seals. Naruto's eyes flashed blue again as he recognized what she was trying to do.

"Oh no, you don't," he said, running through the same hand seals. "KATON, GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU!" both cried at the same time, shooting balls of flame at one another from their oral cavities. Naruto's, however, was much less powerful. He could tell by the smaller size and weaker coloration.

"_Shit,"_ he thought. He formed the cross seal and cancelled his Goukakyuu, a shadow clone appearing behind him just as Sasuki's ball of flames encompassed his own, swallowing it whole and continuing its path towards him.

When the ball of flames hit, Sasuki was perhaps a little worried she'd scorched her escort alive, but when the sound of swirling chakra resounded through the air, she knew he was going to be fine and that she should be worrying about herself more._"What the hell happened to only using it on missions? Does this idiot have __**any**__ self-control!?"_

The flames died out, revealing a boy with a blue sphere of chakra in his hand. He looked like he was about ready to charge at her with it, but then the sphere faded. _'Good, looks like he does. This way people will think he just deflected it with chakra,'_ she thought. She'd worry about just how he could have learned the Goukakyuu at a later point, but right now the sound of a ringing bell and Kurenai's shout of "TIME!" disrupted her thoughts.

"What!?" Naruto shouted, but then realized that they'd reached the ten minute time limit, and both had to leave the ring.

"You know, dobe, if you would have kept your flashy new jutsu in your pants I would have won and could still be in there fighting," Sasuki sighed as they walked down the streets of the village, celebration surrounding them. She elbowed him in the ribs playfully, and he returned the gesture.

"Yeah, but then you'd miss out on spending a fabulous night out with me in public," the blonde retorted with playful sarcasm.

It looked like the night had really picked up for the uncanny couple. Who knew?

* * *

_**Woo! All that in two days! How do you like me NOW!**_

_**Ehem...anyways, the original will not be coming back unless you absolutely request it. I will not be rewriting the entire story...again...so chapter eleven is on the way. I hope you're all enjoying the story, and that this not-so-little installment makes you like it all the more.**_

_**As always, reviews are appreciated. SO REVIEW DANGIT! AND MAKE IT A LITERATE ONE!...Please?**_

_**P.S: I accept very harsh constructive criticism, but not opinions about characters personalities or stupidity of the plot (key word being OPINIONS.) I accept comments of them being OOC, so long as there's proof to back it up and I'm not trying to make them slightly OOC (like Kiba's crush on Sasuki and Sakura and Ino not being at each other's throats 24/7 due to lack of male Uchiha within easy walking distance.)**_

_**~Hikaru**_


	2. On Their Own

**So...the re-write of the wave arc is more of a mass-editing of the whole fic with some re-vamp for the wave arc. I'll add some lines, nothing plot-changing, don't worry. I have the first four chapters done as of today, I'll be working on the edits periodically, and after the edits I'll post the new chapter, then the new chapter for Murigakure (if anyone cares...)**

* * *

Naruto and Sasuki had finally caved. There was nothing better to do around the festival, so they'd taken to roaming the streets aimlessly and searching for some of their classmates. "Come on, there's gotta be someone you want to talk to," Naruto groaned, his eyes shut so tight they appeared as slightly curved lines on his face as his hands behind his head. He was fed up with the fact that Sasuki seemed to be disinterested in _everything_.

"Shut up. Who I choose to socialize with is my decision. I don't need you telling me what to do," she retorted to the blonde. She was obviously frustrated with him at this point, and even if he didn't know why he figured that the least he owed the girl was an apology; he was trying to be nice to her after all. He opened his mouth to do just that when all of a sudden Sakura and Ino came walking up to them. Knowing those two, they had probably ditched their dates five minutes into the festival.

"Sasuki-chan! I didn't expect to see you around here," Ino exclaimed in that hyper-feminine guise of shock. Sakura nodded in compliance, a wide grin on her face.

"We'd have thought you'd be down at the sparring rings. We saw you there earlier and it looked like you were totally kicking Kiba's butt. By the way, who'd you come with? Don't tell me it was Naruto. You wouldn't have to stoop _that_ low," the pinkette jabbed, giving the blonde a once-over in what looked like disappointment.

At this point, Naruto's eyes shimmered with amusement, but if anyone bothered to take the time to look in those cerulean orbs they'd see the pain that was hidden just underneath the surface. He was used to people talking about him like this. At least they had the courage to not do it behind his back like some of the others did. However, this pain completely shattered and was replaced with an overwhelming sensation of joy when he heard Sasuki's reply.

"So what if I came with him? Does that bother either of you?" the raven haired girl asked. Sakura and Ino could barely hide their shock at her words. They just couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that Uchiha Sasuki would be insane enough to actually come to a festival dedicated to love of all things with Loser-maki Naruto.

"Have you gone insane? This is Naruto we're talking about! He's worthless, a dead-last idiot! You're so much better than that Sasuki-chan. He was born an orphan and because of that he's bad news. That's what all the adults say," Ino shouted. Why? No one knew. Perhaps she wanted to call attention to the situation at hand.

The sadness returned to Naruto's face, and he quickly put on a grin and shut his eyes to mask it. "They're right, Sasuki-teme. I should probably get out of here anyways. There's an earlier curfew at the orphanage for me," he said, turning and walking away. Sasuki looked back to the retreating blonde. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his head was downturned. She didn't know why, but the sight of it all just made her feel a strange hybrid of sorrow and fury. She turned with an angry glare to the two girls.

Had it always been like this for the blonde? If it had, she hadn't noticed. Not that she'd much cared about what happened to other people, especially as of late, but something about what they'd said got to her. If he was trouble just because he was an orphan, didn't that make her trouble as well? So why could they go around addressing her in such a friendly manner when they couldn't for Naruto. Well, actually, given the blonde's personality she could see why it would be hard to be friends with him, but that gave them no right to just insult him to his face like they had.

"I hope you're happy. You two are so annoying. You don't think Naruto knows he's an orphan? Do you even stop to think what kind of loneliness he goes through? I've been on my own for just a few days now, and I can tell you that it sucks. He's been dealing with it from the day he was born, and the worst part of it is that you think he's completely fine with it."

"Well isn't he? I mean, with that stupid grin on his face all the time he has to have something going for him," Ino replied with a chuckle.

Sasuki nearly fumed at this. "When he goes back to the orphanage, what do you think Naruto does?"

"Why should we care?" Sakura replied shortly. If Sasuki was going to take Naruto's side, she needed to have it pointed out how wrong she was. That idiot probably just planned pranks or ate ramen or something.

"Exactly. Who cares what he does? Surely he doesn't need to talk about his day with anyone, or look for tips on his Taijutsu or Ninjutsu from his parents. Not that he could, anyways. In fact, who cares if all he does is head out to the training grounds and work himself to the bone, only to come back a bloody pulp. He heals quick anyways, so it's not like it matters how beat up he gets."

"Wait, wait. Why would he be a bloody pulp? I know he's clumsy, but is it really that bad?"

Sasuki just scoffed at this. Explaining to people she didn't much care for would be too much of a hassle anyways. "Go back to your families where you're safe. I'm going after Naruto," she hissed, exposing her cold, judgmental gaze to them before running off.

The two girls stood there and stared at one another, wondering what had just happened. They suddenly felt kind of bad about what they'd said to the blonde. He hadn't personally done anything to them, but they'd just started insulting him from the minute they saw him. They walked off, back to their dates for the festival. Or at least the next five minutes anyways. They were a tad too picky when it came to men.

* * *

"Naruto, wait up!" Sasuki shouted as she scaled the stairs of the Hokage Monument. He'd moved quickly, that was for sure. He'd leapt out of the festival gates without much trouble, and the lights were growing dimmer as Sasuki got further away from them, climbing higher and higher up into the air. The blonde that wasn't more than a few yards from her, but he seemed to be miles away at this point. He was walking alone, much like she had when her family had first…died.

She avoided the phrase 'been killed'. It made her think too much. Whether it was Itachi and his incredible Mangekyou Sharingan or the blood that it had brought her, it all still hurt. She couldn't imagine what kind of pain Naruto felt, but a part of her thought that she was connected to the boy now, no matter how much he bugged everyone, because he knew what it felt like to be alone.

She could see it in him now. That dark swirling pit of doom and despair she felt wrenching through her own gut at that very moment. The one that engulfed all it could, devouring you slowly from the inside out as it feasted on your quiet screams of anguish. That one connection was all anyone could ever need with someone else. She saw his potential to bring her out of that dank pit, and she thought that in the process, she might wind up saving him as well.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. She didn't realize it until now. But she had been standing next to the blonde, overlooking the village from the head of the Yondaime. He turned his head and gazed at her softly, offering a soft smile that had so much more emotion and feeling behind it than any other one she had seen from him up to that night.

"Yeah, I guess," she replied simply. Naruto shook his head in response and offered up a slight chuckle to it.

"You've gotta look at the little things, then you'll see it," he said. She followed his advice, trying to focus on the faces in the crowd. She saw Sakura and Ino sitting with two boys and chatting. They moved away a few moments later though. Then she saw what she believed to be the Hokage's grandson running around with two of his friends and his caretaker. They were running from him, quite obviously. There was Ichiraku Ramen packed full of people, and then the sparring ring; filled to capacity still with no end in sight to the line.

There was a young couple, sharing a drink at one of the food stands. She smirked at their naïve happiness. Then she saw a family. Two parents and a young daughter, no more than two or three years younger than Naruto or herself. They were smiling widely as the father carried his daughter on his shoulders and the mother spoke with the girl. They laughed, and a shot of melancholy spiked through Sasuki's system.

"The families?" She asked, turning back up at him. The blonde laughed again and shook his head.

"I only see one family, Sasuki. Everyone down there is related. Maybe not by blood or marriage, but by what I've heard Hokage-ojii call the Will of Fire."

He smirked at that, a stream of tears pouring out his eyes. "And I don't know, maybe it's just the fact that I never had one, but watching this family fills me up with an unexplainable joy. I want to protect it, keep it sacred, even if I'm not really a part of it. It's still everything I ever dreamed 's why I really want to be the Hokage."

Sasuki went wide eyed. Not once had she never known Uzumaki Naruto to shed a tear. Through failure and ridicule at the academy, through beatings from the villagers, and through all that loneliness he must have felt she'd never seen him cry. Not once. This was a whole different side of him that she'd never seen, and she was pretty sure that no one else had ever seen it either. She gazed down at the village again, and finally saw what he'd been talking about. Even if they didn't look the same, everyone down there had the same spark, the same bit of life to them that stood out. They were kind to one another. They were a family, one that Itachi could never steal from her.

The notion filled her with happiness, and for the first time since the Uchiha Massacre she put on a full smile. The two sat then, watching the village for what seemed like hours. Night fell and the cold engulfed Sasuki. She shivered, and Naruto looked over. He smirked in amusement before removing his jacket and throwing it over the Uchiha's shoulders.

Wordlessly, she took the orange covering and zipped it up tight, crossing her arms. She relaxed a bit and he could have sworn he heard her sigh in relief. "Can I ask you something?" Naruto said, breaking the silence.

"Shoot," Sasuki replied. Naruto looked up to the sky and paused for a bit, like he was trying to find the words to use.

"Why….why did you ask me to come here with you…to the festival tonight, that is? I'm the one who came up here first, and actually I'm a bit curious as to why you followed me, but I don't really think that's important right now, so…I'm rambling, aren't I?" he said. Sasuki chuckled at the awkwardness, but soon frowned a bit in response. Why had she invited the blonde? Was it pity? No, that wasn't it. Maybe it was just because of the massacre, and her head just wasn't feeling quite right at the moment. But then why did she feel so much better now than she did just a day ago?

"I really don't know. I guess it started out as me just wanting to keep an eye on you. You came back to the orphanage all beat up that night, and I was…afraid, I guess. You were literally crawling, and you didn't even care." Naruto nodded slightly as if to accept the response. Then he stood up and proceeded towards the stairs.

"I better get going. School tomorrow and all that. Don't wanna miss another one of Iruka-sensei's lectures, now do I?" the blonde joked. Sasuki jumped up to follow him, and they both proceeded to walk back down.

"Naruto…you shouldn't let what Sakura and Ino said get to you. They just…don't know you," she offered. Naruto smiled and nodded.

"I usually don't. After a long time of hearing the same thing over and over, you just stop hearing it, you know what I mean?" he asked. Sasuki nodded, and the two were wordless the rest of the trip back.

They crossed the gates, and went their separate ways; Naruto towards his "dorm" at the boy's side and Sasuki to hers. "Naruto, wait," Sasuki said, turning at the last second and grabbing him by the wrist. He looked at her quizzically for a second.

"Thanks…for tonight and all, it was fun," she said awkwardly. "Oh, and, um…Happy Birthday, I guess."

Naruto's eyes went wide, brining a palm up to scratch the back of his head. No one besides the old man and Iruka-sensei had ever really wished him a happy birthday. The ninja academy didn't really focus on them too much, and he didn't have the kind of guardians that would make any sort of fuss over him existing for another year, so the feeling of getting one from one of his peers, especially someone who he thought hated him was…actually kind of wonderful.

"Yeah…thanks," he said, smiling warmly at her. She nodded and walked away. Naruto turned to face his dorm then walked forward a few steps.

"So much freaking better than getting punched in the face," he whispered, a bright grin adorning his features. The statement was meant to be more of a silent joke than anything else, but it carried more truth to it than was first intended. The Uchiha female was one of the most attractive girls in his age group, and he wouldn't be surprised if some of his classmates would kill to get her to say such a simple phrase to them.

He chuckled at his own stupidity. Since when had he ever shown any interest in Uchiha Sasuki, or any other girl for that matter? Shaking his head, he opened the door to his room. The place was about the same size as all the other rooms that children his age had now, but everything in it was just, to be put mildly, crap.

Naruto didn't care of course. He was too humble for it. So instead he just shut up and let it roll off his back as he lied down on his bed and waited for the arrival of the next morning.

* * *

The sun rolled up across the heads of the Hokage Monument, and Uzumaki Naruto was one of the few that actually got to witness it. He had a paper bowl of instant ramen in his hand with a cheap set of chopsticks he used to chow down on the delicious substance as was his morning custom. He leapt down from his perch in a tree, landing with barely a sound as he began to walk. "There's a test today, isn't there?" he asked himself. He sighed and shook his head. "Better practice, just to make sure."

He formed the ram seal and charged his chakra as best he could, then when he thought it was ready he let it take shape. The result: A rather dead looking clone that was overly pale. "Stupid Bunshin," Naruto sighed. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get it right.

"Baka. You're putting in way too much Chakra. Honestly, why no one ever tells you this I'm not sure. Maybe if you spent less time acting like an idiot and more paying attention in class you'd get a decent idea of how to do it," an effeminate voice stated harshly from behind him. He turned and found Uchiha Sasuki to be no further than a yard or two from him.

It had been a relatively odd week since the end of the festival. Naruto had continued his rather abysmal performance in the academy. Nothing new there, really. It still got to him that he wasn't getting this Bunshin Jutsu right, but he'd been working real hard so he'd get it eventually, right?

As for Sasuki, Naruto wasn't quite sure what to make of the change in dynamic for their relationship. Before the massacre it had been simple; she was an arrogant prick who needed to be taken down a few pegs. Now that she had, he genuinely felt bad for her. She was still arrogant and condescending at times, but at least she stuck around. That's more than Naruto had ever had before, so he wasn't complaining.

"What do you mean too much? I put in just as much as I would for a Kage Bunshin," he stated frankly. They were both clones, so wouldn't they take up the same amount of Chakra? The raven haired female sighed in an aggravated fashion, bringing her fingers up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Your Kage Bunshin take around a hundred times as much Chakra to form as a normal clone. Look, the test is today. You don't have time to work on your Chakra control, so for now just focus on making more clones with less chakra," she ordered. Naruto nodded, and repeated the process. To his surprise, when the smoke cleared he was surrounded by about seventy-five clones of himself. They were nowhere near perfect, because simple things like their eye color, height, and in some cases extremities were either altered or absent altogether, but it was marked improvement

"Wow! That's so great. Thanks," he shouted as the multiple recreations dissipated as quickly as they appeared. Sasuki's eyes rolled and she scoffed. Only Uzumaki Naruto could get overly worked up about learning what he was doing wrong. This was simple stuff, after all.

"Don't get too excited. With clones like those you'll still fail the exam today, and there are only a couple of weeks until the Graduation exams. You've got a lot of ground to cover in a very small amount of time, so don't be satisfied with such meager improvement," Sasuki stated bluntly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," a discouraged Naruto replied. The two soon walked off towards the academy for that day's lessons, which carried on as usual. Iruka went on and on for hours about a couple of the ninja guidelines that they were to follow as Shinobi of not only Konoha, but the world. Naruto already felt that he had the memorized – well, the important ones, anyways – so he leaned back in his chair, shut his eyes, and started running through his mental exercises.

Okay, so by mental exercises he really meant daydreaming, but come on, class was _so boring_.

The loud thump of a textbook slamming against Naruto's desk awoke the blonde instantly. He panicked and in doing so lost his balance in the chair, no simple feat. Regardless, he was sent toppling out of his chair, sprawling across the floor awkwardly as a result.

"**Uzumaki Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you? No sleeping in class!"** Umino Iruka roared at the boy. Naruto sheepishly grinned and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry, Sensei. I was just busy with…" Naruto tried to explain, but was cut off by a certain raven haired Uchiha.

"Don't apologize for falling asleep, and don't try to make stupid excuses. Act like a Shinobi for once. Isn't your goal to become the Hokage?" she asked calmly. Naruto nodded, surprised that she'd bothered to speak up at all. Usually Sasuki didn't pay any mind to what went on in class besides what was being taught. He knew that he wouldn't become Hokage through willpower alone. But hey, it was worth a try, right?

"Yeah, so what rules were we talking about again?" Naruto asked. Iruka sighed and brought a hand in between his eyes, rubbing the spot with his thumb and pointer finger in an irritated fashion. Well, at least Naruto was trying to pay attention now. Hopefully he'd pick up the habit and stand a chance at passing his final exams.

Class ended and the students were let out. Naruto, however, was held back to talk with Iruka. "Naruto, you completely failed the test we took today, and it was on the Hokages of Konoha; your favorite subject! What's wrong?" Iruka asked. Naruto looked baffled.

"What do you mean failed? I answered all the questions right! Question one: What was the bloodline of the Shodaime Hokage? I answered Mokuton! The second question was 'What is the name of our current Hokage?' I answered Hiruzen Sarutobi," Naruto protested.

Iruka spared a brief glance at the test papers. "Naruto, that's not the order of the questions. The first one was about the_ Yondaime's_ signature techniques. The second one was about his name." Usually Iruka's tests didn't jump around from one person to the next. He'd exhaust all the questions on one person before moving to another, which is what had initially hinted him off that something was wrong. Upon further searching through the pile of tests and answer sheets, Iruka found one that stood out. It had matched Naruto's specifications perfectly.

"Naruto, on the next test, I want you to ignore the rule about writing on your test sheet. I believe you got a bad copy," Iruka said calmly, filing it away in his desk. That was odd, maybe it was a test for another class that just got mixed in with his stack. That might explain it.

"Sensei, if it's not too much trouble, what order did the questions go in on the test before this one?" Naruto asked sheepishly. He seemed curious, and at the same time embarrassed. Iruka closed his eyes and thought back. He graded thirty different papers, so the questions and answers were still firm in his brain. He was rather sure about them.

"The test before this one was on the different hand seals, if I remember right. It was multiple choice and had pictures of all of them in a box. It was only twenty questions. The first one was the hand seals required for a Kawarimi. If I recall, you marked the ones to use for a much more complicated jutsu."

"That's dumb! The first question said to mark the seals for a Fuuton: Daitoppa for me!" Naruto shouted. Iruka's eyes widened in shock. Academy students weren't supposed to be learning elemental jutsu. Well, clan members were an exception as often their own techniques and styles required elemental manipulation, but Naruto most definitely shouldn't know the seals for such a technique. It was now clear that someone was messing with his student's tests, which was probably why he'd been failing so much.

"Naruto, I'm going to speak with the Hokage about this. Your tests seem to be much harder than the standard ones that the rest of your classmates are getting. I'm going to look into it and start making sure you get the right tests from now on. However, that means I'll also have to eliminate all your other grades and boost the points that your current ones are worth. Your final is probably going to determine ninety percent of your grade now, so study hard," the brown haired Chunin said with a chuckle.

Naruto gave a whoop of triumph as he pumped his fist into the air before excusing himself and then dashing out the door. He'd have no trouble with the bookwork. It was just those darn tests. His teachers never really gave out homework aside from training, so he wasn't graded on anything else besides his tests, and on so many of those he'd been sure the answers had been right, so much so that when he received his results he instantly deflated and would show no sign of emotion the rest of the day.

Finally this problem would be fixed. He was really happy about it. All that extra training he'd been assigned that seemed to be just completely impossible finally had a meaning. The extra hand seals that were supposed to act as 'training wheels' according to his old instructors were obvious lies now, it all finally made sense to the young blonde. Things were coming together.

Naruto dashed off, back to the orphanage, to train the rest of the day away. He'd start using the normal hand seals, try to spread out his techniques to compensate for his lack of chakra control, and he'd definitely need to do some throwing practice. Maybe he could ask Sasuki. After all, if he'd been lied to about hand seals and given crap tests then could his taijutsu and weapon throwing styles be falsely trained and wrong as well? Besides, he felt he was a bit closer to the girl as of late, and friendship was always a good thing in his opinion.

The thought of needing to re-learn everything scared him a bit, but with the confidence of any young male he was ready for anything at the moment. He had arrived at the training grounds then, and ran through three hand seals quickly. "Bunshin no Jutsu," he exclaimed. A puff of white smoke coated the surrounding area. When it had cleared, five-hundred different Naruto clones stood in the field, all grinning happily. There were no flaws noticeable on any of them. They were perfect.

"Yatta!" Naruto screamed, dispelling the clones. He quickly moved on to the Henge. This one was going to be a bit tough, seeing as it took about as much chakra as one Bunshin did, and Naruto didn't have that much control over his chakra flow yet.

"No. Focus, Uzumaki. You need to get this down. You need great chakra control if you want to be the Hokage," he ordered himself while forming the ram seal. "Just a drop of chakra and," With that said, another plume of smoke burst into existence. Naruto stood there taller, with shaggier hair, no whisker marks and a white and red cloak and hat on, as well as a blue jumpsuit and Chunin vest on underneath it. He had become the Fourth Hokage.

"There we go. Who would've guessed that a jutsu would require such a small amount of chakra?" he said with a grin. Transforming back into his normal state, he realized that to keep up what he'd just been doing, and to do it efficiently, he'd need a lot more training. He'd literally wasted more chakra in trying to hold back an overbearing amount for the Henge to take than he used if he just let it happen. It was pathetic. If he tried that on a Bunshin, it would come out pale and sickly like it always did. Thankfully, Henge had a lot more room for error seeing as it was changing the shape of your own body rather than making yourself appear where there really wasn't anything.

He grit his teeth and tried to think of a way to solve this little issue. However, when no solution came, he gave up. Taking out a kunai, he charged chakra into the tip of his finger and used it to 'burn' a black X in the tree closest to him. He got a good thirty feet away and then closed his eyes. Something odd happened then. He felt lightheaded, and he opened his eyes to reveal everything was coated in that same deep blue shade from the festival. However, the X he'd made on the tree was a bright orange.

He could see a path of trajectory: where his hand should go, where his feet should be, how much power to put into it and when to let go of the steel object in his hand, and he followed this new insight with diligence and passion. The throw deterred from the path by just a fraction of a centimeter and the kunai landed just outside the X, but still in the center.

After a few more shots, Naruto believed he had a good grouping. The marks where all the kunai had been were all in just about a neat little two inch circle. He moved onto shuriken next, and was surprised when the blue fog that somewhat clouded his eyes, and the helpful orange glow that came along with it had vanished.

He sighed, pulling an arm back and throwing in a similar fashion to how he had been, and to his surprise he actually landed the bulls-eye. It was a thrill, and he cheered loudly. Quickly he ran up and made several more chakra burns to mark targets. He brought a fan of shuriken back, and with the same focus he'd used on his first throw he launched them all. Quite a few made the mark, with only a few missing by two or three inches.

He was satisfied with the improvement, to say the least. So he picked his weapons off the tree, pushed some chakra through it to fix the marks in the wooden pillar like they taught him in the academy, and then headed inside the dorms. He was surprised when he saw Sasuki standing by his door.

"There you are, finally," she sighed. She had her back to the wall and her arms crossed. "The Hokage wanted to see us to speak about our living arrangements. His ANBU told me to find you. Let's go," the raven haired girl reached out and grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him out of the building.

"Alright, alright, I get it! Jeez, you're being really impatient. Got something more important you need to be doing?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I'd much rather be training and studying for the final exams than waiting for you to show up. But by all means, please take your sweet time."

"You're insufferable, you know that?" Naruto groaned.

Sasuki rolled her eyes.

* * *

The two arrived at the door to the Hokage's office. Naruto wanted to barge right in, but was stopped by the firm grip Sasuki had on his collar. To avoid breaking his trachea, he didn't dare move, but instead moved a hand up to knock. "Enter," came the old man's reply. The two academy students walked in and faced the man.

"You wanted to see us, Hokage-Ojiisan?" Naruto asked quietly, massaging his still sore throat. Sarutobi chuckled at the uncharacteristic change in volume from the blonde as he nodded in agreement.

"Yes of course, Naruto-kun. You see, I feel that since you two are nearly out of the academy that it's about time that you moved out of that depressing orphanage. I've taken the proper precautions for this, and I'm proud to say that Sasuki will be given ownership of her old clan compound and Naruto will be procuring an apartment to stay in. That is, until your endeavors as Konoha Shinobi allow you to pay for a place where you don't have to pay rent," the old man said cheerily.

"What? No way!?" Naruto shouted. He was ecstatic. Finally, he'd have a place of his own. A room and walls and furniture that really belonged to him! It was like a dream. Sasuki on the other hand was a bit more conservative of her shock.

"Arigato, Hokage-sama," she said quietly. In all honesty, she wasn't all too thrilled about being back in the place where everyone she had ever loved had been slaughtered right in front of her. In fact, she was close to demanding that the entire estate be demolished and used to build…okay, she didn't quite know, or particularly care what would be built there, but so long as her old house was gone she'd be happy.

But still, that house probably held plenty of important clan treasures. It was her responsibility to retrieve them and put them to their best use. She'd keep the house for as long as she needed to, but not a minute longer.

Despite all her bravery, Sasuki's eyes gave away the anxiety she felt to not only the Hokage, but Naruto as well. Typically the blonde wouldn't have picked up on the worries of another unless they were specifically voiced, but something about the sudden change in Sasuki's body language flipped a switch in his head. As a result, he found himself confused as to what to do. Neither of them had ever been particularly close, so he wasn't quite sure if he should be comforting her or not. He knew what he'd like to do, but perhaps she'd think any attempt he made to console her as pity and refuse it.

Girls were really confusing…

Sarutobi Hiruzen was in a sticky situation. The civilian council had nearly bitten his arms and legs off for keeping Sasuki out of the Uchiha Complex for so long, let alone for going so far as sticking her in an orphanage instead of simply hiring someone to live with her and monitor her mental health. While the Hokage thought it was a good idea, he realized that the dealings of a child's mind were something that only a Yamanaka would be able to deal with. That being said, the Yamanaka clan had tried to get through to the girl, but any jutsu that they could have used to help her that wouldn't leave her little more than a vegetable for days on end was simply resisted by the girl. It was almost like she didn't want help.

Sarutobi, being a very frugal Hokage, knew that a watched pot would never boil and did the one thing he could. Of course, the civilian council didn't know anything about the intricacy of this issue and were thus totally and completely disregarded in their whining. Not only that, but the fact that they kept complaining that the orphanage that he'd chosen was a "dangerous place where the demon brat could get to her and finish the job he'd made Itachi start," were of little to no help to their case. Perhaps now that some time had passed he could put the girl back where he knew she belonged and finally get the council off his back.

"You will both be granted a monthly salary from our government to pay for food and other necessities. You can move in as soon as possible, but by no later than the end of the week. I hope you enjoy your new homes. Take good care of them for me," the man finished, handing over keys to both children and a slip of paper with the address of Naruto's new apartment on it to the boy. They nodded, and after some more childish whooping by the blonde, dispersed.

The walk back to the orphanage was the usual, silent walk that the two had always shared to and from the academy. That is, what was thought to be a silent walk until one Uchiha Sasuki broke the tranquility. "I….don't want to go back there," she said awkwardly, the ground suddenly becoming the most interesting thing in the world to her as she scratched the back of her head.

"Yeah, the orphanage is really a pain. People aren't too nice," Naruto agreed. He didn't want to pry too much into the situation, so maybe playing the idiot and not implying he knew what she was talking about would make her open up a bit more. Thankfully, it seemed she took the bait.

"No, not the orphanage, I'm talking about my house," she said sheepishly. Naruto frowned. He'd be reluctant to go back and live in the place where his family had been murdered as well. He could only imagine how she felt about it. A thought occurred to him, and although it was probably stupid, totally unfounded, and maybe even a touch inappropriate given his relationship with the girl, he couldn't resist the urge to just blurt it out.

"If…if it ever gets to you, and you need to get out, my door's always open," he scratched the back of his head with that statement as his glance shifted awkwardly up into the air at a diagonal. Then he turned his head to look at her and grinned, trying to ease the tension. He glanced up to Sasuki, who had an emotionless expression on her face. Here was Naruto, whom she'd treated like crap all throughout the academy, offering her a place in what was likely a small, cramped apartment that would barely hold him.

She nodded. "I might just take you up on that offer some time," was mumbled awkwardly. Her voice was barely more than a whisper, almost like she didn't want to admit she'd be acknowledging that she needed anyone's help, let alone Naruto's. After that, the pair continued to walk back to the orphanage together in complete, but not totally uncomfortable silence. They packed up what little they had when they got there. The bags consisted of a toothbrush, clothing, and assorted Shinobi gear for the both of them. Naruto had thrown in his frog wallet that he'd affectionately dubbed "Gama-chan" and a book called _History of the Kage and Other Elite Ninja of the Shinobi World_. Aside from that he had a single notebook for the academy – filled with mostly doodles of him in the Hokage hat doing cool jutsu and blowing up stick figures and crudely drawn sets of buildings, big surprise – and a small windowsill garden with a bag of seeds.

"Who knew the Dobe had a green thumb?" Sasuki joked. Naruto smirked slightly, whenever he could squeeze it in between training, he loved to garden. The book was also a treasure of his, because there probably wasn't a single Kage in there he didn't look up to, and there were several Jounin as well that had caught the blonde's eye.

Sasuki had quite a few scrolls on Uchiha clan styles such as various fire jutsu and even a few taijutsu scrolls to carry along with her. "They're my family's, so it's my job to look after them until I rebuild my clan," she said. Naruto nodded, flipping through the pages of his book. Sasuki peeked over his shoulder, catching a glance at the page he was on.

"The Densetsu no Sannin? Who are they?" she asked. Naruto's head whipped around his shoulder and his walking ceased. His eyes were wide with surprise, and his jaw hung slack.

"How can you _not _know who they are? They're the most powerful Shinobi in the world. During the Second Great Ninja war they took on Salamander Hanzou and fought him to a draw! That feat alone was considered to be a work of Kami at the time! There's Jiraiya, the Gama Sennin, holder to the Toad Summoning Contract and the greatest seal master alive to this day! He was the Sensei of the Fourth Hokage! Then there's Senjuu Tsunade, holder of the Slug Summoning Contract, granddaughter of the Shodaime Hokage and a master of Chakra enhanced taijutsu and medical ninjutsu. Finally, there's Orochimaru, holder of the Snake Summoning Contract. He's kind of the failure of the group. He started running creepy experiments inside the village. It doesn't really say why, but it does mention how particularly…grotesque...most of them were. He even ran them on himself, apparently. When Hokage-Ojii found out about it the guy got the boot," Naruto explained.

Sasuki looked at the boy with a slightly perplexed expression. He sure did have a passion for this kind of thing, didn't he? Well, she supposed that when it came to Uzumaki Naruto things like math, science, and literature could go right out the window, but when it came to "cool ninja stuff" there was always a need for more. "Interesting," she said, finally offering up a chuckle at the situation. "Well, maybe we'll learn about them at the academy soon," she commented. Naruto agreed just as the two reached the Uchiha Complex.

"Looks like this is your stop," Naruto said. Sasuki paused, looking at the long stretch of buildings before her. That same long stretch that she'd seen while running home the night that Itachi had slaughtered everyone and proceeded to make her live through it in that damned genjutsu with his cursed eyes. She saw it almost too vividly. Her aunt and uncle were lying in the street there, in front of the shop where they would sweep up in the early evenings when they closed. Her older cousin's house had a distinct red puddle in front of it that had made her afraid to open the door, especially with that kunai point poking through in with what looked like a bloodied tip. The girl shuddered, taking a slow step in, only to immediately backtrack when she saw it.

The nursery.

Shinobi of Konoha – well, the drunk ones at least – would often get into bragging contests to who had seen the worst sights. There was a man who had a story of how he had stumbled across a wall with right hands severed about two inches above the wrist were pinned to a wall using kunai. The rotting had reached every stage from completely without flesh so that only the skeleton remained to putrid smelling half-gone to fresh and still dripping with blood. Others from the groups who had investigated some of the more eerie crimes against humanity that had gone on in the village had their missions reports memorized for such a time that they would need to repeat it.

Sasuki's story, of course, trumped them all when it came to the Uchiha nursery. Case in point; no one wants to hear about dead babies. No one. For Itachi to have even committed such an act was either a sign of true insanity or complete lack of emotion. Probably both.

The images of the night Itachi went Nuke surrounded and blocked her vision. The blood that had coated the streets was suddenly there again as she brought her arms up to her shoulders, trembling weakly. Naruto looked over at her, concerned.

"_Foolish Imouto-san. You can't kill me. Do you know why? It's because you lack the hatred required for the task. So run, run and cling to life. Hate me, despise me, curse my name. Then, when you feel you are ready, come and face me._"

That one phrase echoed through her mind before she remembered the slaughter of her parents. Sasuki took in a deep breath to scream as thousands of emotions she'd thought she stomped flat into the ground weeks ago all came flooding back at once, but before she could verbalize her psyche snapping, a pair of hands clasped her shoulders. She looked to her side, her neck popping from the stress of the quick movement, and saw Naruto.

Sasuki had tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were suddenly puffy, making the bags from what was once a well-hidden lack of sleep apparent. Through all her trembling and sobbing, she was able to voice one simple question.

"Naruto, Can you…spend the night here? Just for tonight?"

It was anything but expected to Naruto to hear such a request. They hated each other, didn't they? Staying the night should be improper, ridiculous, and unacceptable given their current relationship. His mind flashed to all the different ways this could go wrong from the beatings that would no doubt follow due to his further goings-on with the Uchiha girl to the highly unlikely and ridiculous execution sentence that might be passed even without the Hokage's approval. Naruto was nothing if not paranoid when it came to social conduct. But despite all this, Sasuki was crying and that was all that really mattered. The blonde nodded calmly before releasing the girl from his grip.

"So, where am I sleeping?" He asked, providing a goofy grin to up the friendliness angle. He swore he saw a ghost of a smile come into being on the ravenette's features as she brought her hands up to wipe away her tears. Like that, just for a second, he could also attest to seeing her glow in a way he hadn't imagined possible. A chord, struck in his heart by the image presented to him, hummed within the center of his being as his grin shrank. The stress on his cheeks was making it hard to appreciate the view.

"Thank you, Naruto," she replied softly.

* * *

**_This is where the Author's Notes typically go, but seeing as I have no source material to go off of for these in the edits, I'll just go ahead and say that you should all leave LITERATE reviews for this. Spellcheck if you have to. Also, please leave some sort of criticism for me to go off to. If you don't have any complaints about this story so far, you're lying. If you actually don't, tell me what you've liked most so far._**

**_Thanks,_**

**_Hikaru_**

**Update as of 10.7.2012: So this is the re-re-done chapter two trying to make Naruto and Sasuki a bit more in character. I'm looking for a literate beta, all interested may apply through PM, review, whatever (really you'll just do whatever you want -shrugs-)**


	3. School Days

**So I've been working on the next chapter for Murigakure no Sato as of late. I'm about halfway done, for anyone who cares. I'll be editing the rest of this as fast as possible, and hopefully have the next chapter out by the end of next month. Thanks for your continued support.**

* * *

The Uzumaki and the Uchiha stalked the halls silently. They'd reached the center of the housing district, which was marked by the largest house in the entire complex. Naruto hadn't expected any less, seeing as Sasuki's father had been clan head. That made this the house that Sasuki had stayed in during her earlier childhood. A spared glance revealed that she was shivering as the memories vividly flooded back to her. Her mother's cooking, her father's lessons, even the rare times when Itachi was home from missions for ANBU and would help her with her academy work were all running through her mind like a melancholic wildfire. The trembling stopped for just a moment and a hint of a smile flashed across her face when she recalled one piece of her past life. They would eat meals as a family sometimes. That memory had actually made her happy.

The blonde looked down at the girl with a frown. She had subconsciously latched onto his arm, and her eyes were darting back and forth throughout the room. However, when they fell upon the encroaching door they stayed, and her pupils dilated to near pinpoints. He gazed over, and saw that the open door held a completely empty room. There was nothing in it aside from the tatami mats on the floor.

He sniffed the air casually, still smelling a hint of the cleaning chemicals that must have been used due to the lack of blood. "_Someone important must have been killed here,"_ he thought.

"My parents," Sasuki whispered, as if she'd read his mind. Naruto looked over to the girl and nodded understandingly. He thought about it for a bit when he'd first heard the news; what it would be like to actually _lose_ someone. He could barely stand not having anyone in the first place, sometimes. The dark, empty feeling in his gut reminded him all too well.

"What…what's it like?" he asked her. She glanced over to him quickly, surprised by the question. "Having parents, I mean," he finished. The feeling just escaped him. He had an idea of what it would be like, but not the actual experience of being with a mother, father, brother or sister. It was something he desperately wanted.

"My parents were…" Sasuki began. Her head tilted down as memories of times she had tried not to think about in what seemed like forever streamed through her consciousness. "Incredible. Words fail to describe them, really."

"My mother was the caring type. She was always looking out for me whenever I trained too hard. I remember her patching up my cheeks after I burnt myself first learning the Goukakyuu. She was a Kunoichi before she had me. Something happened during the birth that messed up her chakra circulatory system though, and that was pretty much the end of that. It wasn't anything life threatening, but she just couldn't perform jutsu anymore. Really you'd be surprised at how often it happens. I guess that's part of why I became a ninja."

"Then there was Father. He was the strong, silent type. He showed his love by being a harsh teacher; he'd only want, well, only really accept the best for me. There were times where I felt terrible for disappointing him, but he always encouraged me to work up to Itachi's level. He was sometimes too harsh, and that's when Mother came in to cheer me up. I guess you could say that they made a great team. They cared about me, protected me, and knew when to let me do things for myself and when to stop me from doing things that would get me hurt," she mumbled.

"But then Itachi put them under a genjutsu, and he decapitated them. Right here in this room." There were a few sniffles as the tears began to fall. Naruto felt the grip around his arm begin to tighten, and he frowned. This was obviously really painful for her.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I'm not going to make you," Naruto said quietly.

"It's not that I don't want to," Sasuki replied, looking up at him. "I need to. If I don't talk about this with someone I think I'm going to explode. The Hokage tried to get me to talk to the Yamanaka, but I didn't think I needed to. I was fine on my own. Now that I'm back here though, I see how stupid I was being. So I want to talk to someone now, and you're the closest person to me right now."

"Look, I don't think this is a matter of proximity. Maybe you should take up the Hokage's offer to go see the Yamanaka or something. I'm kind of dense when it comes to psychology and stuff, y'know?" Naruto offered, scratching the back of his head. Really, weren't they enemies? Rivals, at least? They weren't supposed to talk about their feelings with one another.

"That's not what I meant, you idiot," Sasuki said, turning her glance from him as her cheeks colored lightly.

Naruto's eyes widened. He was the closest person to her? That implied that…well, to be honest, he didn't know quite what it implied, but he knew that it marked some sort of change in the dynamic of their relationship. She couldn't just be his rival anymore. But what did that make her then? A friend? She'd probably be the first real friend he had, then. Somehow the notion made him feel warm on the inside; so warm that he could hardly hold back a grin. He managed it, though. After all, this was still a fairly somber time.

_'Why's she trusting me with this kind of stuff? It's not like I've done anything to deserve it. Darn it, now I feel like I owe her something,'_ the blonde thought. If she trusted him enough to see her crying, if she really felt that close to him, then there wasn't any good reason to push her away. He'd have to take that trust and show her he deserved it in any way he could, and he had a pretty good idea of how to go about it, too.

"Sasuki, do you know what a Jinchuuriki is?" Naruto asked quietly. She looked up through her tears and shook her head, gazing at him quizzically. "Well, when there's a demon or some other evil force around that you just can't seem to kill, you seal it away, right?" He asked.

"I guess, but if you can't kill it then how can you seal it? And just what is it you're going on about? What are you getting at?"

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there. The point is…when the Kyuubi attacked, he was one of those forces you couldn't kill no matter what you did. He was a being of pure chakra, whose metaphysical body could heal from any wound in seconds. So when the Yondaime moved out to stop it he'd prepared a technique he called the Shiki Fuin. A seal so powerful it was controlled by the Shinigami himself. You would forever seal anything into anything else, or any_one_ else in this case. You see, as far as I understand it, the Kyuubi's chakra was so violent that only an undeveloped, entirely flexible chakra circulatory system could hold it, and that kind of thing can only be found in a newborn."

Sasuki looked at him, as if the puzzle pieces were slowly falling into place. He closed his eyes as her next phrase. "Your birthday was the day of the Kyuubi attack," she whispered. He was a bit relieved that she was so perceptive. It would make explaining this a lot easier.

"The Yondaime couldn't ask another villager to give up their own child. His wife had recently died during childbirth to a little blonde haired boy. What he must have been feeling I can't even begin to imagine, especially as he ran out into battle to seal the demon away into his own son. Into me."

The boy clenched his fist tightly as he reached for his shirt with the other hand. Slowly sliding it up, he revealed a black spiraling seal mark closely resembling a crude drawing of the sun on his stomach. Sasuki looked up at him shocked. "So then the reason everyone in the village abuses you…" she began.

"Is because they believe I'm the demon reincarnated," Naruto finished for her. "The whole story is an S-class secret, so the details get altered and at times some think that the demon has taken control of my mind; others think that it will eventually. But it's not the physical pain or the insults that hurt. Sasuki, a lot like you I know who my parents were. Well, who my dad was at least. But, you have memories of them alive and well, talking to you, kind words, happy memories in your heart. I never got to see that out of my family. I never got to feel that love you were talking about. And it's because of that I have this damn, empty, alone feeling all the time, and it hurts. I never asked to carry all this hate." Naruto was clutching tensely at his stomach with his free hand then, tears threatening to start running down his face.

His head suddenly shot up, a wide grin crossing his face. "Which is why it really makes me happy that I found someone who I can talk about it with. So…cheer up, okay? I'll be here for you so long as you're here for me."

Sasuki let a small smile play across her features at the blonde's words. If he could be happy despite all he went through, then so could she. She had a confidant again, and that was something she never expected to get after Itachi's betrayal of the clan.

"You idiot," she mumbled, her smile only growing larger as she turned her glance away from the boy. Naruto wiped at his eyes with his free hand and shook off the tears.

"Good, there's been enough crying tonight for the both of us. Come on, let's get you to bed," he said, walking them to a more remote room. The closet held enough linen to assemble a futon to sleep in, and Sasuki quickly set it up before throwing herself under the covers. She looked over to see Naruto already halfway out the door.

She felt the dread from earlier coming back in full force as soon as the boy was out of sight. "Naruto, wait," she said, louder than she probably should have.

"I'll be down the hall if you need me," Naruto replied. He tried to move, but found that the Uchiha female had moved, and was now refusing to let go of his arm.

_'No way…'_

"Do you want me to stay here?" he asked her. She inclined her head a few degrees in a barely noticeable nod. He sighed, and then proceeded to set up his own bed.

"If it's that much of an issue you don't have to stay here," Sasuki said, slightly offended.

"Don't do that," Naruto shot back.

"Do what?"

"Act like I'm hurting your pride. I'm here because I want to be. It just so happens that you want me to be here, too."

Sasuki deflated. She knew that she couldn't make the blonde do anything he didn't want to. That was what was frustrating. Other people had always had some sort of respect for her status as an Uchiha, perhaps now even more so as she was the last one loyal to the village. Naruto didn't work like that, though. Naruto only ever cared about who she was as an individual. Naruto was prone to talking smack to her when she was acting even a little full of herself. Maybe that's what she found so comforting about him now. She didn't have to remember that she was an Uchiha, part of a dead family, when she was around him. She could just be Sasuki, and that's all that mattered.

"I'm sorry, I just don't think I can be alone in here for now," she said. "And I know that I act tough at the academy, but in here…there are just some wounds that heal slower than others."

Naruto seemed to accept the offer as he laid down across the floor, glad to finally have his arm back. "Like I said, I know what it feels like to be empty, too. I'll stay with you for as long as you need me, I don't mind. We all act different out there. It's the only way we can survive, really."

"Careful, you're broaching philosophic," she said with a laugh.

"What?"

The laughs only increased from there. Well, that was until her mind suddenly realized just how late it was, and just how fatigued she was from the day's events. She felt a pesky temptation to close her eyes, and figured that now was as good of a time as any.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun," Sasuki whispered as she fell asleep. In a few minutes she was snoring gently.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, Sasuki-chan," the blonde replied, happily returning the honorific as a last comment when he realized her breathing had slowed, smiling lightly at the raven haired Uchiha's peaceful expression. He slid a little closer to her before falling asleep as well.

* * *

Naruto's eyes fluttered open at the bright light that refracted through the window as he turned on his side. He instantly came to two realizations. One being that today was going to be warm and the other was that his face was literally two inches from Sasuki's. She had latched onto him at some time during the night, given the fact that her arm was slung loosely over his side. He was slightly panicked by the sudden feeling of closeness and a pink tinge coated his cheeks.

Naruto wasn't the type to be rude to girls, especially when he was fairly sure that they'd try to beat him up if he woke them up before they were ready, so he did what came naturally and laid there, waiting for her to wake up. The wait wasn't long; Sasuki's Shinobi training allowed her peripheral senses to detect when she was being watched rather easily. Her eyes opened slowly and she stared at him with a blank expression for a full five seconds before a blush also crept across her face.

"Were you watching me sleep?" she asked, a little embarrassed as she slipped her arm from around him and back to her side. Her eyes drifted from his gaze, her blush darkening further. Things were just a bit odd at the moment, especially given their current position, so it came as a relief when Naruto wasted no time in sitting up and putting his weight on his heels.

"Well, I didn't want to wake you up," Naruto replied. Sasuki had stood in the time he took to speak, and Naruto in turn shifted positions again to meet her level again. "We should probably get ready for the academy. I'll go find the shower," the blonde said, grabbing his back as he walked off down the hall.

"Yeah, alright," Sasuki replied, she heard the water start running about a minute later she went into the kitchen, which was coated in a thin layer of dust and grime that grossed her out beyond words. She set to work cleaning the area while at the same time taking an inventory of all the food present. There wasn't anything in the line of food left in the place. After the Massacre it was probably taken as a surplus. That was just great. She had some major shopping to do if she wanted to keep the food supply up.

About ten minutes later the water shut off, and five more after that the blonde came out with a toothbrush in his mouth and a fresh set of clothes on. "It's all yours. Judging by the light out the window, we should leave for the academy in about an hour or so," he said through the paste. Sasuki nodded and walked into the bathroom.

"No peeking, or else I'll castrate you with a dull kunai and cauterize the wound with a Goukakyuu," she threatened with a steely tone. Naruto laughed and waved her off.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not _that _perverted. Besides, you wouldn't be able to do it anyways. I outrun Iruka-sensei and even Jounin and ANBU on rare occasions," he bragged, running his index finger under his nose as he grinned.

"Just make breakfast," Sasuki said as she shut the door with a slam as the water began to run. Since the massacre, she'd always taken more enjoyment in her morning showers. They were really her only release at this point. Sure, there were the days after the academy where she was free, but she somehow always ended up thinking about the same thing. Itachi. However, he was the last thought on her mind at the moment.

"I called him Naruto-kun," she said aloud. So far it hadn't seemed to change anything, but she could never be too sure. Father had always told her that honorifics were to be used with the utmost care, and that using them in the wrong circumstance could mean a lot of trouble for the family. She understood now that he was merely making sure that she did not show disrespect  
to others by referring to them in such a casual manner, but even though Naruto was a casual acquaintance – no, they were closer than that now, he was a friend no matter how odd that sounded – she still held some inhibitions about using them.

There was no other way around it. Sasuki had completely confided in Naruto about everything she was feeling. All her fears, all her pain, everything she had felt since the massacre would be obvious to him now. They knew each other's secrets, they shared loneliness, and they'd even slept with each other. Her cheeks tinged when she thought about that. Honestly, she didn't know what to do when she'd just woken up and he'd been there just like he said he'd be. A part of her felt relieved at that fact, but it was also odd. Not in a bad way, but just odd.

He'd even brought her out of the terrible recollection of that night. The boy was so much different with her now than the way he acted in the academy. Almost as if he'd been wearing some sort of mask before. Maybe it was because if he showed any sign of talent, they would treat him even worse. What was it he'd called himself? A Jinchuuriki; that was it. A container, someone with a demon inside of him. He'd even gone so far as to show her his seal. She wasn't versed in Fuuinjutsu, not by a long shot, but seeing that black mark on his stomach had made everything seem all too real. What was more, simply talking about having a family was enough to bring this new Naruto to tears. Naruto Uzumaki shouldn't cry. He was too happy, too much of a dense idiot to even comprehend the idea of being sad. But, despite all that, somehow he was probably the one most familiar with the feeling.

It was almost as if they had the same dream; to one day have families. She smiled at the thought of having kids. Little Uchihas running around again, like when she'd babysat for relatives. They would call her Okaa-san and be polite, and then they'd ask when Otou-san would get home from his mission, because there was no doubt in her mind that he would be a Shinobi. There would be a knock at the door and they'd run to open it as their blonde father with deep cerulean eyes walked in and smiled warmly at her.

Wait, blonde hair and blue eyes? Why was she thinking of…

"Oi! Sasuki-chan, you've been in there for twenty minutes! The village doesn't pay for your hot water just 'cuz you're an Uchiha. Come on, breakfast is ready!" Naruto shouted, rapping on the door and shocking the girl out of her daydream.

Sasuki gasped. What was she just thinking? Naruto and her having kids? Wouldn't that imply _other_ things having to happen first? She washed up quickly, before she had too much time to think about unjust things that would corrupt her morning shower and shut the warm water off, wrapping a towel around herself and grabbing a change of clothes. "Sorry, be out in a minute," she spoke through the door.

Naruto sighed, "Honestly, where does she get off calling me a pervert and then spending her own sweet time in there doing Kami knows what?" he walked off to the table and while he waited for his hostess attempted something he hadn't for a while. He focused his chakra in one hand and tried to rotate it, only to find it exponentially more difficult than when he'd successfully completed the technique the first time, and again during the festival just two days ago.

"The hell? That couldn't have just been a fluke!" he exclaimed. Well, looked like the Rasengan still needed more training. He'd better check the Kawarimi as well, just in case. Sasuki came out of her bedroom with her new set of clothes on.

"Where'd you find food in this place? It was supposed to be empty," Sasuki inquired.

Naruto beamed. "I always keep a few packs of instant ramen on hand. All you need is boiled water and presto, great ramen to go," he said, pointing towards the two bowls full of the steaming liquid.

"Ramen for breakfast? Isn't that a little unhealthy?" Sasuki asked.

Naruto nodded blankly

Oh well, it would have to do for now. The two ate quickly, and then set out, heading towards the academy.

* * *

Upon arrival, the two sat down in their class and waited for the day to start. There was about fifteen more minutes before the bell rang for class to start, and the 4th year academy students intended to make the most of it. Okay, so they were chatting, but hey, socializing is important in your preteen years.

There were a few stray glances when the two entered the room together. People still weren't used to watching the two classmates who had once been considered polar opposites enter at the same time. Naruto quickly took his seat next to Sasuki. Kiba came rushing through the door exactly three seconds later, looking mildly disappointed and then very angry when he saw where Naruto was sitting.

"Hey dobe, you better get outta my seat before I knock some sense into ya," the Inuzuka growled fiercely at the boy. Naruto glanced over, and in a brilliant display of total insanity from this morning grinned widely at the other boy.

"Come on, Kiba. I was here first. Besides, it's not like you have anything to worry about. What are the chances of me stealing away your oh-so-precious Sasuki-chan, eh?" he retorted.

A clawed hand shot out, gripping firmly onto the orange and white fabric of Naruto's collar. In less time than it took to blink the blonde was up in the air and Kiba's fist was cocked back, ready to strike the boy at a moment's notice.

"Shut yer trap before I shut it for ya!" he shouted, throwing the fist out and slamming Naruto firmly in the jaw. The blonde was then cast aside in an almost careless fashion before Kiba sat down next to Sasuki. "Sorry 'bout that Sasuki-chan, but don't worry. He won't bother you again, I promise," the Inuzuka proclaimed. Everything was still dead silent as Naruto stood up, Kiba didn't turn around to see it, but what Sasuki saw was what could only be described as terrifying.

She was sure no one else was searching chakras, or else panic would have ensued when she looked into the boy's eyes and saw blood red corneas with small, slit pupils. For the briefest of moments, Sasuki felt a heavy killing intent exude from the boy. No one else had the experience to sense it, as it wasn't being directed straight at them, but if they had they would have likely screamed, wet themselves, ran away or a combination of the three. She wasn't quite sure why she wasn't afraid of him, but she felt in her gut that she wouldn't hurt her.

His eyes instantly returned to their original cerulean, but Sasuki still found it a more than a little shocking. She cleared her head of the event as best she could, but there was still the matter at hand to deal with, that being one very persistent, very annoying Inuzuka.

"So I was thinking that, y'know, maybe you and I could go out some time. Y'know, get some lunch, maybe catch a movie," Kiba said with a charismatic smirk. Sasuki scoffed, she should slap the boy. She really should, but she just couldn't. All she could do was repeat the same phrase she always had.

"I don't have time for dates, I'm too busy training," she said in a cold tone, "If you had any clan pride, you would take my advice and train more instead of chasing my skirt all around Konoha."

Kiba was saddened, and leaned his chin on the desk. Naruto had long since walked up to Kiba's seat and he'd sat down there. He wasn't hurt; heck, the punch hadn't even had any chakra behind it so the Kyuubi's chakra had healed it almost instantly.

No, what was really hurt was his ego. He'd almost lost control of the Chakra again. It happened sometimes when he'd train a lot and have to tap into his tenant's reserves, but now there had been no training, no reason for exhaustion, just anger. It had scared him how easy he'd almost lost control of it all. The last time that had happened everything in a ten foot radius had been torn to shreds. He really needed to learn to control it better.

That was the problem, though, learning to control demonic chakra required him to use said chakra, and that just didn't sound like a good thing to do on the inside of the village, especially when he didn't have much control over it. The problem was a vicious cycle, and it drove him crazy.

Class started soon after Naruto had taken his seat, and Iruka announced today was practice for the Genin exams. Shino was called up first. Obviously, he passed. Chouji was next, pass, then Sakura, pass, pass, pass, and so on down the list, each student coming up and performing their Henge and Bunshin.

"Uchiha Sasuki," Iruka stated bluntly. Sasuki stood up and walked by, Kiba staring directly at her butt as she walked down. She formed her seals and dashed through the Jutsu with ease. Iruka nodded, and Naruto was then called up to the front of the room.

The blonde walked down, he was slightly anxious, a bit exited, and very afraid of this test, so he did what he could. "Henge!" he announced, and standing before Iruka was a model image of the Fourth Hokage. Iruka smiled.

"Nice improvement, Naruto-kun. Now let's see those Bunshin, shall we?" he asked. Naruto blanched and transformed back. He'd been trying to limit his number of clones, his goal to get their numbers below a hundred of them. It would suffice to say that he'd had almost no luck. He didn't want to overflow the room with clones. Partially because he didn't know what would happen if they touched one another, and partially because he didn't want to freak anyone out. He sighed, then prayed to Kami that Iruka-sensei would allow him to use Kage Bunshin instead of regular ones. "Iruka-sensei could I possibly…y'know," the blonde stuttered sheepishly. Unfortunately, Iruka wasn't capable of reading minds.

"Naruto, there's no exceptions to any part of the exam. I'm sorry, but if you can't do it just say so and try for next time," Iruka frowned. In his eyes, Naruto was still trying to come up with excuses. It saddened the man.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you," Naruto said as he formed the hand seal. "Bunshin no Jutsu," he stated calmly. Soon, the room was filled with clones of Naruto that were about on par with a 2nd year academy student. Basic flaws were obvious throughout all of them, different color hair and eyes, some were missing parts, others had too many. That's what happened when he tried to compress the numbers to such a small amount.

"The things just take too little damn chakra. I can't focus it right," Naruto said with a sigh. "Gomen, sensei, looks like this one isn't quite ready yet. It's just that I tried really hard to only make one for so long and now I figured out that I was putting way too much chakra in, so I tried making more with less chakra, but then the only way I got that to work was…well, let's just say that stuff like this keeps happening."

Iruka nodded. "Just keep working at it. Final exams are in a week, you did a great job with the Henge, I'm sure you can make it through the Genin Exams if you put in as much effort to it as you have today. Remember, though, I can't pass you unless you have enough control to cut the numbers way down. Shoot for ten or fewer and I'll gladly give you the hitai-ate."

"Alright, I'll go for it," the blonde smirked, walking back to take his seat. The room filled with whispers.

_"Of course you'll fail when you try to make that many clones. What's he trying to do, show off? He's pathetic."_ One student said. Others nodded in agreement, but the blonde seemed blissfully unaware of the world around him at the moment. He only cared about getting back up to his seat and finishing the day.

* * *

Naruto was in a funk for the rest of class. He stayed silent through the exam, this time it was on the Shinobi codes of conduct, which he'd thoroughly memorized. Ah, yes, when it came to the codes of conduct Naruto had his own idea. Sure, he filled out all the information on the test paper, and then again on the answer sheet before handing it in, but that ideal that a Shinobi would sacrifice anything-even the life of his comrades-for the sake of the mission…

That was just total crap. _Nothing_ was more important than your comrades, not even the mission. He was absolutely positive that the law needed to be changed. All throughout history, the greatest Shinobi – even the Kage of the world – had given up their lives to save the ones of their comrades. He would know for a fact that Hatake Kakashi, an elite-ANBU-now-turned-Jounin's personal motto was "Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash."

Personal preferences aside, the codes needed to be learned, and hopefully Iruka-sensei would find out just what was going wrong with Naruto's tests. The blonde flung himself out of his chair when the bell rang, dashing for the door and then taking off for the outside. Book learning just wasn't his style, he needed to get out there and just do something.

But first, he needed to pick up his bags from Sasuki's house. He paused, thinking it would be rude for him to just barge into the Uchiha's house. The raven haired girl was walking by him a few minutes later, and he diverted from his sitting position at the bench he'd found to walk alongside her.

"Hey," he said casually. Sasuki looked up to the blonde, smirking slightly.

"Hey," she replied. "So I assume you're going back for your stuff?"

"Well yeah, if you're okay being alone for the night, that is," Naruto replied. "Like I said, I'll stick around as long as you need me to." Sasuki blushed at this. The thought of waking up to him that close literally every morning made her head spin. She didn't know if it was embarrassment coupled with shame, or something else.

"I should be okay, besides, I wouldn't want to keep you from having a place to yourself for once. It must get pretty frustrating having to deal with those people day in and day out. That, and now that you don't have a curfew and tomorrow's the weekend we can stay out as late as we want," Sasuki commented.

Naruto's eyes widened. He'd always wanted to see the village in the dead of night. When everyone was finally asleep and there were no lights or fires going. Just him, Konoha, and the stars. He smirked at the thought. "Hey, we could train all night if we wanted to," he joked as they rounded the corner into the gates of the Uchiha Complex.

"Yeah, we could, but maybe we should check out your new home before we make a final decision. Who knows? You might like it a lot," Sasuki replied as he got his bags from her floor.

"Yeah, maybe. You wanna come too? I mean, you invited me over here, so it would be kinda rude not to show you my new place," Naruto offered. Sasuki smiled warmly and nodded, following the blonde.

As they exited the gates, a certain pink haired academy student peeked at them from around a corner. That was odd, Naruto and Sasuki usually walked to and from the academy together, but now it seemed like even thought they'd moved out, as Ino had told her thanks to the intel from The Konoha Gossip Forces, they still saw a lot of each other.

"No way! They couldn't be…dating!?" Sakura gasped. She dashed forwards after them, desperate to get the truth. The pieces all fit together. They'd gone with each other to the festival, they'd been walking to and from school together, and now Naruto was even bringing his bags from out of her house. It was all just too odd.

"Well, according to Hokage-ojii's note this is the place," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head as he looked skeptically at the apartment. He grabbed the key out of his pocket, and slid it into the lock on the door. He twisted the tiny golden-colored piece of metal. The door opened and the inside of the room was revealed to the pair.

It wasn't anything impressive, just a small living room with one couch and a coffee table, with a kitchen about two feet away on the opposite side. The door in the far right corner lead to a bedroom, and next to that was the bathroom. Naruto glanced around the room as the two walked in.

_"Why would they give him something this small?"_ Sasuki thought. However, the blonde Uzumaki had another idea of the place.

"Whoa! This is great!" he shouted, dashing into the living room. He jumped, landing back first on the couch. He bounced twice before flipping over. "If the couch is this comfy, I can't wait to see the bed!" he exclaimed loudly before dashing off into the bedroom.

Well, hyperactive certainly did fit the description rather well. Sasuki smirked at the antics of the blonde, "Well, I see you like the place, so I'll just head out and get to training," Sasuki called. Naruto was by her side half a second later.

"Hold on, I just remembered something. Hokage-ojii told me I could use his library any time I wanted. Why don't we check it out to see if we can get some cool jutsu to practice?" Naruto offered.

Sasuki twitched slightly. It was the dream of every academy student to have access to the _Hokage's_ library. The man wasn't known as The Professor for nothing. He must have record of every taijutsu style, thousands of ninjutsu, and all the basics of creating a genjutsu in there. Not to mention the multitude of seals that every ninja had ever used_ ever_. Anything from gravity seals for weighted training to the more conventional uses for them such as item storage.

She nodded numbly, and Naruto smirked as he grabbed her by the wrist, dashing off. She smiled, trying to keep pace with him. Naruto was fast when he was excited, that was for sure. She put her chakra to her feet in the desperate struggle to not be dragged along. She looked ahead towards the red tower of the Hokage Tower that was slowly closing in.

If she hadn't been so focused on her running, Sasuki may have noticed the mediocre attempt Sakura was making to mask her presence and run at the speeds Naruto was at the same time. _"Where could they be going now?"_ Sakura asked. Naruto had just thrown his bags on his bed, judging by the glance she got from the rear window of his new apartment, so that obviously wasn't their destination.

"_Well, it looks like they're heading for the Hokage Tower,"_ was the only thing that went through the pinkette's mind as she flew from rooftop to rooftop. Naruto was just too fast for her. How did he do it? He wasn't using much chakra, barely any for someone with control that sucked as much as his. Maybe he was just physically gifted and didn't have any talent to back it up.

In truth, the speed came from all the times he'd had to run in his life. Ever since he was a kid, walking as fast as possible and then running were two essential skills for the boy. He needed the speed to outrun the attackers as well as the agility. There was a particularly crowded area up ahead, and Naruto dug the balls of his feet into the ground, picking up the raven haired girl bridal style and pushing a burst of chakra through them as he pounced up onto the rooftop.

The speed at which Naruto was moving was – for lack of better words – simply incredible. Sasuki could barely see anything through the wind. And then he jumped. She felt completely weightless, supported by only his arms. How much chakra had he just pushed into that jump? Enough to rocket them a good ten feet above the building whose roof he landed on.

He'd refused to put her down after that, at least not until they skidded to a halt in front of the Hokage Tower's staircase. His breathing deep, but not strained, like he could have kept going for hours. She gazed up at him in shock as he put her down. "That was a nice run," he commented.

"Nice? You had to have been going at least fast enough to kill someone if you'd run into them. Where'd you learn to run like that?" She asked.

Naruto chuckled in response. "I run like that every day, it's not a big deal."

Sasuki decided to leave it at that, and followed him when he walked in the doors and up the stairs. At the door to the Hokage's office Naruto stopped. He knocked soundly on the door, highly out of character, and entered the room. "Oi, Hokage-ojii, Sasuki and I are taking up your offer for me to use your library. That okay?" He asked.

"I don't know about that, Naruto. I mean, it has been a while since I gave that offer to you," The Hokage said, looking skeptically at the pair, stroking his beard in thought.

"Relax, Hokage-ojii, she knows about the fox, she won't figure out anything big village secret." The blonde chuckled. Sarutobi gave a partially shocked-and partially awed-expression at the two, but then calmed. He hadn't gone senile quite yet, and was still an understanding, kindhearted person, of course.

"Alright then, feel free to look at whatever you want. Naruto, I'm surprised you haven't been interested in your Father's techniques yet. He developed some interesting fighting styles over his lifetime. You may like them." He said.

Naruto nodded, "Ah, but how can I focus on a taijutsu style when I can't even do the Rasengan right more than half the time, and haven't even started _trying_ to learn the Hiraishin?" He countered. Sarutobi laughed at that comment.

"Yes, yes, you're a ninjutsu type as always, I know." He said, "Go have fun, but don't stay out too late, even if it is the weekend, you don't want to oversleep, now do you?"

"No, Hokage-sama," Sasuki said. Naruto simply nodded, and the two were off to the library. Who knew how long they'd be allowed to learn things from there before the Hokage decided it was too much of a risk? They wanted to make the most of it.

* * *

**Last Edit: 10/23/12**


	4. Don't You Dare Insult My Sensei!

**Last update to this chapter was: 11/3/12**

**Typical disclaimers apply**

* * *

"This place is huge! I have no idea where to start," Naruto exclaimed as the two soon-to-be Genin walked through the halls of books and assorted scrolls that composed the library of the Hokage. Sasuki, on the other hand, quickly rushed to the jutsu section as if it was second nature to her and pulled out a scroll filled with C-level Katon techniques as well as a chakra control exercise scroll, and then a Raiton technique scroll of the same rank.

"This is all I'm going to need for now. Chances are I don't know a majority of these," she commented. Naruto, who wasn't really paying attention to her, gave a curt nod as he kept trying to find something of remote interest to him. He wasn't much interested in Taijutsu, and if you thought he wanted to brush up on his Genjutsu then you simply didn't know him. He had enough Ninjutsu to work on between mastering the Rasengan, working on his Henge, and getting damn Bunshin jutsu down at the moment as well, and he was pretty sure that if he wanted anything else later on that he could always come back. It was while he was searching the shelves that his eyes fell upon one filled with countless scrolls on something he wasn't too familiar with.

"Fuinjutsu and Its Practical Applications in Battle?" he asked quizzically, taking out a set of scrolls that probably numbered five or six volumes in all. A quick glance at the author left the blonde effectively dumbfounded at what was in his hands.

"Th-they're all by the Yondaime…they're by my dad!" The blonde shouted. Sasuki was at his side in moments. Anything written by the Fourth Hokage was worth taking a look at, after all. Naruto started at them for a few seconds before stowing them in his backpack. If they were scrolls by his father, it didn't matter how many clones he'd have to make to carry them, he'd get them all.

Without another word Naruto had grabbed the set of the scrolls from all but the top two shelves, which he had admittedly needed the vertical assistance of a Kage Bunshin for. Why the weakest techniques were stored at the top of the shelves was a mystery to him. They should be at the bottom so Genin can reach them easier. Mainly he was just unfortunately, well, short, but height be damned, his idea was a good one either way!

He was prevented from continuing his rant when a distinctive metallic click sounded after he reached out and grabbed the last volume of the Yondaime's scroll series. A section of the wall not ten feet away slowly crawled out of the way and revealed a narrow passageway in place of an empty space. "What scroll did you grab?" Sasuki asked. Naruto looked down at the title.

"Origins of the Namikaze Fuingan? What the hell's a Fuingan?" Naruto asked. Sasuki shrugged. She'd never heard of a third Doujutsu using clan in Konoha, let alone one that belonged to the Yondaime Hokage. Naruto seemed to grow impatient with the mystery and opened up the scroll. His eyes widened when he did, and his hands began to tremble, making it even harder to read the scroll.

_Naruto,_

_Chances are if you're reading this that both your mother and I are dead. Well, that or I just forgot to slip this out of the scroll in the Old Man's Library after the battle with the Kyuubi. The former though is much more likely. I instructed Sarutobi-sama to let you find this scroll on your own because I don't want the council knowing about this. If they did, they might try something – to borrow a chapter from the Nara family – really troublesome._

_Before I tell you anything at all, I want you to know that your mother and I care about you more than anything else in the world. Make no mistake; you are Namikaze Naruto. We both want you to grow up proud and strong. However, the doctors are saying you mom may not be alive after the birth. I want to apologize for leaving you alone in this world if that's what it comes to. I absolutely hate myself for it, but I have no other choice. I can't ask anyone else to give up their child for this. I'm begging you for forgiveness, so please don't deny a dead man his last request._

_I wonder how you're doing. You must at least be a Genin by now, what with your father's amazing talent in your genes and all. Alright, so chances are you're struggling to perform some of the simpler jutsu. Chakra control was never our family's strong suit. Stuff like the Bunshin and the Binding Escape Jutsus that require almost none of our chakra supplies just fall out of practice when stronger, more efficient methods come into play. That's not me telling you to slack off on your chakra control, mind you. I'm the one who left you as cool of a jutsu as the Rasengan to learn that will improve your control by leaps and bounds (this is usually where I'd wink and ._

_Now you may be wondering what benefits you receive for being a part of the family. Well, I'll tell you. We have a certain Doujutsu up our sleeves known as the Fuingan, but can also be called the Sealing Eye. At the simplest level, which should activate around the time you leave the academy, it appears to be a severely weakened version of two of the powers of the Sharingan of the Uchiha and the Byakugan of the Hyuuga. You'll be able to see people's Tenketsu, which are in fact tiny seals that run throughout the body that inhibit or increase chakra flow. Our family's terrible chakra control will most likely prevent you from ever learning the Hyuuga's Juuken, of course. However, the second ability is your ability to analyze how chakra moves throughout one's body and then combines with certain hand seals to perform a Jutsu._

_When this happens, you'll have a pretty good idea of how to perform the Jutsu itself, but you'll have to hone it on your own. You can't run around copying Jutsu all day like some crazy man, now can you? People wouldn't like it when they realize their Jutsu were being stolen. Besides, the original purpose of the Fuingan is instant seal memorization. Once you successfully create a seal, even once, it will forever be a part of your memory and be at your disposal whenever the Fuingan is active. Just make sure you learn how to turn it on and off first._

_However, there are higher levels of the Fuingan beyond just the first one. At the second level, you'll be able to form seals on anything instantly with a simple glance. It'll take a bit more chakra than your average Kage Bunshin, and it works on more of an exponential curve when it comes to distancing, but it can be very useful when you combine it with certain Jutsu. I'm going to let you figure out how you want to use your eyes on your own. It wouldn't be fair if I gave you all the answers, now would it?_

_Well son, I've spent all my words of wisdom for you. Make sure you follow your dreams, no matter what they may be. I want the village to view you as a hero for holding the Kyuubi back, but I highly doubt they'll see it that way. You've been given your mother's surname as a way of protecting you from the scads of enemies I've made over the years (Your old man's still pretty cool, y'know!) When you get older, show up and give them a good thrashing if they try anything stupid, will ya? Okay, so I'd prefer that you avoid getting yourself in too deep, but I know that might be an impossibility given the situation I'm about to put you in. Just make sure you're ready for the challenges you decide to face before you face them and you'll be fine, alright?_

_Also, I'm not quite sure what effects the Kyuubi's chakra will have on you. It may mutate your Fuingan into something entirely different from anything I've ever seen, or the two may be completely unrelated to one another. We'll just have to wait and see. I'll apologize to you right now for all the pain I've probably caused you. Know that I'll always be watching over you from Heaven, though, and that you have many people in this world that still care about you._

_Jiraiya and Tsunade, the two Sannin, have been named your godparents, so seek them out if you're having troubles (If it's Ero-Sennin you want, check the bath houses every once and a while, he'll turn up eventually; the old pervert always does.)Try to stay away from the man's books until you're eighteen, if not for my sake then for your mother's, and whatever you do, don't tick off Tsunade._

_Some last words of advice; I've given some breathing room on the seal so that you can tap into the Kyuubi's chakra if you ever need to. I wouldn't suggest it, but if you have no other choice I want you to use it to protect, not destroy. I wish you luck._

_-__Dad_

Naruto stared at the scroll in awe, and then held the paper tight to his chest as he brought both arms around it. Tears began to stream down his face. Sasuki had seen the writing as well. The man had taken the time to write out the details of a Doujutsu as well as his last words to his son before going out onto the field to take down a legendary demon fox.

"Naruto, are you going to be alright?" she asked. Naruto was wearing a wide grin, tears still rolling down his cheeks. He held the letter tight to him, careful not to let his joyful tears ruin it.

"He actually cared. They _actually_ cared," he said. Sasuki looked at him with a smile. That was the great thing about Uzumaki Naruto. He didn't care what you did to him, so long as you cared about him and he cared about you, bygones were bygones.

"He always did, otherwise he wouldn't be a father," she mumbled comfortingly, flashing back to all the times her father had pushed her to become great. He always did mean well. Somehow the thoughts motivated her to try harder. "Come on, let's get some more scrolls. I'd like to try out some Genjutsu in our training session when we're done here."

"Yeah, just a second," Naruto replied, "Let me finish up my load, too." Sasuki looked over to find that Naruto's voice was emanating from the room that had opened up. He came out with an armful of scrolls, all marked with the same seal on the opening flap. "I wanted to figure out more about this Fuingan thing, but there's so many scrolls in here I don't know what to look at first."

Sasuki laughed at the sight. "Who would have thought the mighty Uzumaki Naruto would be walking out of a library with an armful of scrolls even once in his life?" she asked rhetorically. Naruto smirked, gripping the girl by the ear and gently tugging her behind him as they exited the library. They hadn't even reached the door by the time Sasuki swatted Naruto's hand away and gave the boy a coy smile.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain pink-haired Kunoichi-to-be had her eye on them. "Where'd they get those scrolls?" Sakura asked herself. She quickly stalked after them all the way to the training grounds. Naruto and Sasuki with ninja scrolls were an odd combination, especially since Sakura didn't know of any ninja libraries inside the Hokage Tower.

* * *

Naruto was pouring over the first scroll in his Fuingan series. Truth be told, he was having a little trouble. "I just can't activate the darn thing!" he yelled, pounding a fist against the ground. Sasuki laughed at the antics. He didn't know how bloodlines worked, did he?

"Naruto, your…Fuingan was it? It will activate on its own when you're ready, you just have to prepare for it. You don't know much about it besides what your father told you, so just read ahead a bit," she suggested.

Naruto nodded as he tore open the seal on the front of the scroll and began reading it. His eyes bugged at the rather small size of the print and complete lack of diagrams. Uzumaki Naruto was facing one of his greatest challenges of all time. He was actually going to have to read the darn thing!

He sighed, not wanting to fall back on his training, but it was just so tedious! Oh well, there came a time in every man's life when he had to do things that he didn't want to. Uzumaki Naruto was fully prepared to do this, he just needed to build up the resolve then he would come out on top and be a better person for it. Yes, that was the true meaning of this scroll his father had left behind for him to use for train-

"_Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"_ he cried, forming a single clone and setting it to work reading the scroll. "No way in hell am I reading all this, so you do it and when you dispel I'll just learn it myself," he instructed the clone. Said clone sighed in defeat before beginning to ponder through the small characters that made up the scroll.

Sasuki chortled. "Well, you'd better work on that chakra control of yours or else you'll fail the exam again, dead-last," she said. Naruto grinned at the teasing as he set to work. Rather than use shadow clones to develop his skills, he preferred doing it on his own. Sure, for things like the Rasengan and Hiraishin as well as other powerful jutsu he'd use a few clones from time to time. But still, doing things himself was so much more rewarding – Unless said things involved reading, that is.

"Right, the exams are at the end of the week. Better get to work on that," he replied. However, his intentions were…somewhat different. "How about we go another round as a warm-up first?" the blonde asked as he shifted slightly. Sasuki smirked. Even if this boy was the son of the Yondaime he still wouldn't be surpassing her any day soon.

"All right then, but don't cry when you lose, Namikaze-chan," she mocked. Naruto grinned; something told him this was going to be fun.

* * *

A week came and passed, and each day Naruto would have a clone read a bit more out of the scrolls until finally he'd read all the basic techniques he'd be receiving when the thing finally started to activate on command. However, he'd been so busy just trying to get the chakra control right for the Rasengan he'd completely forgotten to work on his technique with anything else.

"Dammit! I don't have any time to train!" he shouted, bursting out his apartment door. He dashed towards the academy, not caring about how winded he became on the journey over. He needed to get there, pass the test, and become a Genin so he could get a team, learn cool jutsu, go on missions, become a Chunin, learn more cool jutsu, lead teams of other ninja, become a Jounin, learn and maybe even create even more cool jutsu, get his own Genin team, teach them cool jutsu, and then become Hokage. Needless to say, the rest of his life was solely dependent upon this day.

However, all would not be well even if he got there on time. Naruto still struggled with making fewer than 100 normal Bunshin, and that would take up far too much space in the exam room to be effective. He simply couldn't do the jutsu unless he was outside. The feeling of disappointment was almost unbearable.

He skidded to a halt just outside the door to the exam room, a harsh look from Sasuki telling him that he was cutting it way too close. Iruka sighed in relief, and called the first student – Shino – into the exam room. The Genin examination had officially begun.

The minutes ticked by in slow agony as classmate by classmate the new Genin of Konoha were announced. "Uchiha Sasuki," Iruka called. The raven haired Uchiha heiress walked up calmly, and by the looks of it Kiba could barely hold back a cheer. Sasuki, of course, performed the "simple techniques" with relative ease. Naruto blanched. What he'd do for chakra control like Sakura's right about now. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto turned into the Yondaime as usual, and the class just called it a lucky shot. Then, the Bunshin was asked from the deadpanning Naruto.

'_Kami kill me now."_ The boy thought as he stalked up to the front of the room. '_Maybe if I make just a few more than last time.'_

There was a puff of smoke as twenty-five minorly flawed illusions of the blonde filled the room. Sure, they were leaps and bounds better than his last attempt in this room, but nowhere near the ten perfect clones Iruka had asked for. Naruto wouldn't be passing and he knew it.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but you're on a borderline here. Your grades are based on a different system than the others due to a previous incident, and because of this you've…well you just don't have enough credits to pass given your final grade. You'll need to spend at least another year in the academy before you're ready to move up to the Genin level," Iruka said.

The boy nodded and frowned in response. He was heartbroken, his hopes and dreams had just been smashed into a million pieces. "I understand, Iruka-sensei," he said dejectedly, walking back up to the desk he'd taken over for the past year. The expressions of the class varied from disinterest to comically amused, to the sole bearer of a truly sorry face that belonged to Uchiha Sasuki.

The class was dismissed for the day. People gathered in groups to talk about their new hitai-ate and the like. The guys were pumped for Ninjutsu and Taijutsu practice, and the girls were giggling ecstatically about all the sexy ninja gear they'd be able to wear now, though exactly why they were concerned about their sex appeal at the age of twelve was unknown. Then again, girls and fashion are two things that might never really be understood.

With their graduation from the academy they were now viewed by society as adults. That meant they were capable of living on their own once they got the money for an apartment and doing whatever they wanted inside the law. It was exciting.

However, one blonde in proclaimed "kill-me-now" orange was sitting alone on his swing, which was really only his because no one would go near it after he'd been using it so long. He glanced at the groups and smirked with a hint of wistful longing. He so wanted to be up there in front of the crowds, screaming loud and proud how he'd become a Hokage one day.

Footsteps from behind cued Sasuki's approach, so he turned to meet her but had no intention of talking about his failure. He quickly took control of the inevitable conversation by scratching the back of his head with a half-grin of mirth and then saying in a rather loud voice, "Hey Sasuki, good job out there today. Congrats on making Genin, you deserve it."

The Uchiha Heiress frowned, "Why did you fail, Naruto? I know for a fact that you could have passed that test if you tried. You showed me your Bunshin. You made thousands at a time, so how is it you struggle to make a fraction of that?" she asked. The blonde frowned.

"The jutsu doesn't use enough Chakra. I'd be better off making a thousand than ten any day. I'd need perfect control to make even one clone with my lack of chakra control," he said. Sasuki frowned and nodded.

"So another year, huh? Well, I guess that kind of ruins our plans a bit. I mean, you'll be busy all the time with academy work, and I'll be doing missions and training with my team, so we won't see much of each other."

Naruto swallowed hard. He'd just recently began to make friends with Sasuki, and now he was risking losing that bond. The boy frowned at that thought. Would he really let something as trivial as chakra control get in the way of him having a friend?

'_No way in bloody hell,'_ he decided. Shaking his head, he sighed. "I'll just have to find another way to pass. I'll talk to Iruka-sensei about it."

Sasuki nodded, heading off towards the Uchiha Complex. As she did, Naruto remembered the murmurs from before. All the graduates were getting special presents from their families, as was customary. After all, graduating the ninja academy was something that took a lot of time and effort. Once that was done, a chapter of your life was over. You had no idea what came next, and you couldn't go back either. Of course you'd celebrate the beginning of the rest of your life. He know he'd want a big party if he'd graduated.

Why rob Sasuki of that same experience? He couldn't do much, but he could try.

"W-wait, Sasuki!" Naruto called out. The girl turned to face him. "How about we go get some ramen tonight. I'll pay. You deserve a treat after all; you did pass with the top overall marks in the class, Miss Rookie of the Year."

She blushed slightly at the title, and then shook it off. Was Uzumaki Naruto asking her out on a date? She nodded softly, "Yeah, sounds alright to me. See you at eight," she replied. Naruto nodded, waving at her as she left. Little did he know, the word 'date' was still flying around the Uchiha's head at a mile a minute.

"You know, Naruto-kun, there's another way for you to make up those credits quickly," a voice from behind him stated. Naruto turned to see Mizuki standing at his flank and looked quizzically at him.

"How would I go about that?" Naruto asked cautiously. Iruka was really the only teacher he'd ever had that he could trust. Mizuki had been a wild card, seeing as he had just met the man when he was introduced as Iruka's assistant early on in the year. He'd only been fully promoted to a teacher in the past few months. As such, Naruto had no idea if this was all some sort of scheme to an unknown end or not.

"All you have to do is sneak into the Hokage Tower and steal the Scroll of Sealing. Then you just learn a jutsu out of it and presto, you're an official Genin," the silver haired Chunin stated simply. Naruto nodded in reply. His statement definitely raised a red flag, but was it enough of one to simply call the man a traitor and run to the Hokage with the news? Also, the prospect that he could still be telling the truth was appealing. Either way, Naruto decided that going along with this was probably the best option regardless of Mizuki's intentions.

"Alright, I'll head out right now," Naruto stated. Mizuki smirked. On the inside, of course, he was thinking how easy it was to set the boy up for this job. If he got caught and killed, then that would just be one less Jinchuuriki the world needed to worry about, but if he managed to do it then Mizuki could sell the thing to any rival nation of Konoha and make a small fortune.

"Good, then meet me at the village gates when you're done," Mizuki said as he disappeared in a flash of leaves and wind. Naruto, acknowledging the odd location of their rendezvous point as more important information, dashed off into the forest with almost as much enthusiasm to start his so-called make-up exam as he had harbored suspicion of the whole situation.

* * *

Sometimes things just seemed too easy. Naruto couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he'd just snuck by Jounin and ANBU unnoticed, and that he was currently clutching and reading out of one of his village's most prized treasures. He thought for sure that Hokage-ojii needed some serious reconsideration when it came to who guarded these kinds of things because obviously the current employees sucked at their job if a simple academy student could sneak by them.

Then again, maybe security had been lowered specifically for this test. That would mean that Mizuki wasn't lying about this whole thing. There just weren't enough details to be entirely sure, so the only thing Naruto could do was take advantage of this awesome opportunity.

The blonde had been in possession of the scroll for at least an hour now, and throughout that time he'd found the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, realized the test was a waste of time, and began copying down multiple other jutsu that seemed rather useful. He was careful to avoid Kinjutsu that had the cost of one's life or limb labeled on them, but he did see many other useful techniques.

However, one technique he came across was enough to make his eyes went wide and his entire body get pins and needles. Well, rather a modification to a specific technique on the scroll, but still in the boy's repertoire. His throat went dry, his eyes welled up with tears of joy at the beauty, and his heart nearly beat out of his chest. The near-orgasmic pleasure and overall state of euphoria was almost too much for him. He managed to mutter out three simple words before he hastily began scribbling down the details of the technique into the scroll.

"Bunshin…Dai…Bakuha."

It was official. He was definitely going to kiss whoever had invented this jutsu. He loved it so much right now. "Alright, that'll do for now. After all, I can't make a complete second copy of this thing; that just wouldn't be fair," Naruto said to himself, stashing the scroll in his weapons pouch.

Suddenly, a dull whistle shot through the air and Naruto leapt to the side instinctively, effectively dodging the giant shuriken that came down at him. The blonde was in shock; that thing could have taken his head off! His head whipped around to his attacker to find Mizuki.

"Nice dodge, Naruto-kun. That was the last part of the test. Now just hand me the scroll. I've got your hitai-ate right here," the man said, holding up a leaf headband.

'_Stupid, stupid Mizuki! Let it work! Fall for it, you demon brat,'_ Mizuki's mind screamed. He'd underestimated the boy. That throw should have caught him off guard, but apparently Naruto had heard it. All he could do now is try to slip under the boy's radar.

Naruto took a hesitant step forward, questioning his current actions. How would that be part of the Genin Test? He could have been killed. He never heard of any academy students who died taking this exam, and he'd definitely never been told about a secondary way to pass it either. His suspicions were once again on high, and he felt every brain cell he had screaming for him not to give up the scroll.

"Naruto, don't do it!"

Iruka erupted from the trees, landing before the blonde with a kunai in hand. "Mizuki, what the hell do you think you're doing!? You know that any ninja who goes after this scroll will be announced a Nuke-nin and automatically be banished from the village!"

Naruto stepped back in shock. Banished? He'd never heard of that! Then again, his political knowledge wasn't that great, but still...Ah, screw it, this was all his fault. How could he allow himself to be tricked like this? Shinobi were supposed to see _through_ deception, damn it! All he'd done was set himself up for his own exile, and Mizuki had made sure of it by making Naruto suspicious of _him_! He'd thought Mizuki was targeting him with the same kind of physical attack anyone else would, he didn't count on this all being a ruse. He growled at himself before taking off running. "Damn you, Iruka!" was all he heard before the sound of clashing metal filled the air.

'_I need to help Iruka-sensei, but first I have to stash this thing. If we lose, I have to slow Mizuki down as long as I can before he finds it. But where!?'_ Naruto mentally screamed. He stopped, not wanting to go any further, and then got an idea. He quickly made a singular Kage Bunshin, which took the scroll and applied a Henge to make it look like a huge rock. The scroll fit neatly within the elementary illusion, so Naruto charged back into the fray as quickly as he could.

* * *

A whizzing noise filled the air as Iruka sidestepped and the second Demon Wind Shuriken lodged firmly into a tree. "You only have one of those left. What do you plan on doing now, Mizuki?" Iruka questioned. The silver-haired traitor scowled, taking the last of his massive weapons in hand and spinning it rapidly.

"I _plan_ on _killing you_!" Mizuki shouted just as Naruto leapt from the trees. Mizuki grew a wild grin, tossing the weapon towards the orange-clad blonde. Naruto panicked, ducking and covering himself, shutting his eyes tight in the process. There was the sound of a blade penetrating flesh, but Naruto felt no pain. He looked up in shock to see Iruka. The man had jumped in front of him at the last second.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto screamed. The brown haired man did not respond. He only fell motionless to the ground.

"You see? That's what happens when people try to rescue a demon. You killed him, just like you did to his parents in the Kyuubi attack you monster," Mizuki laughed. Naruto stood up, his head drooped and his eyes fixated on Iruka. There had to be some sign of life left in him, there just had to. No vitals got hit. However, something in him stirred, Mizuki was laughing at Iruka, mocking him, spitting on his name.

"What do you mean I killed him?" the blonde asked in a low tone, his glare boring holes in the ground.

"Imagine the Hokage's reaction when I come to him saying how I tried to stop you from stealing the Scroll of Sealing. 'Hokage-sama, it seems the boy was out of control. Iruka and I tried to stop him, but unfortunately he was too far gone. After he killed Iruka…I had to resort to lethal force.' Ha, maybe I should consider being an actor after I ditch this place."

Naruto felt as if every nerve in his body had burst when Mizuki finished.

"_**Tear the silver haired one to pieces, kit,"**_ an ominous voice sounded inside Naruto's head. Naruto looked up, his eyes now a piercing shade of red with dangerously slit pupils. His canines had elongated, and his whisker marks became more defined. His fingernails pointed, turning to claws, and he felt an incredible chakra surround him.

No, it didn't simply surround him, it flowed through him. His circulatory system tingled in excitement from the terrible energy. It was familiar with the chakra, if in small quantities, due to the seal. But at this point, he was nearly drunk on power. His hand, clenching into a fist, shook with rage.

"**I'll rip you apart for this!" **Naruto roared. He was off in a flash, appearing right in front of Mizuki and punching him with a powerful series of uppercuts that initially lifted him off the ground as the last sent him rocketing into the air above the tree line. What Mizuki saw next astounded him. The blonde was literally running up the trunk of a large oak without the use of his chakra to grip. His legs were rocketing him upwards with each step. Wait, what was that thing in his hand?

"**RASENGAN!"** The raging Jinchuuriki shouted, slamming the orb of red chakra into Mizuki's chest. He was instantly enveloped in a painful, rotating sphere of red that shot him skywards at incredible velocity, making him vaguely resemble a shooting star.

Where had this brat gotten all that power? He'd never lifted a finger to the threats of the villagers or their actions. He was the dead-last, and here he was using this kind of a jutsu. Mizuki could barely think through the pain. He only screamed.

"Fall to earth and die." Naruto whispered, finally calming down. His features returned to normal, and he walked over to Iruka. To his relief the man was awake and had managed to remove the shuriken and bandage himself spectacularly.

"Don't worry about me, Naruto. However, there is something I need to tell you before I have you take me to the hospital," Iruka said with a smile. Naruto looked at the man questioningly. "Just close your eyes and don't open them until I say when."

The blonde obeyed, and soon felt cold steel against his forehead. When he opened his eyes he felt the Hitai-ate around his head for the first time. Iruka smiled at him, and the blonde jumped into the air, pumping his fist. "Hell yeah, I did it!"

Iruka and Naruto laughed the whole way to the hospital. In fact, they only stopped grinning when they arrived at the doors to the clinic. It was then that Iruka's expression got serious.

"Naruto, I'm going to say you used the Kage Bunshin, but not the chakra of the Kyuubi. We can't let it leak that you have the ability to tap into that demonic energy, or things could get worse than they already are."

Naruto nodded in reply.

"And hey, if push comes to shove we can always call it some sort of unknown kekkei genkai. It's not like many people know about the Uzumaki clan anymore," the man continued. Naruto chuckled.

"Umino Iruka?" a nurse rolling out a wheelchair asked.

"That'd be me, yes. Thank you for coming out."

"Not a problem sir, we'll get you patched up in no time."

Iruka turned to his blonde student, or former student now, and raised both eyebrows quickly in succession. Naruto had to contain his laughter. Iruka apparently had a thing for nurses. This ensured the man would have a decent stay for however long he was in, which meant Naruto wouldn't have to worry much.

"See ya later, sensei!" Naruto called as he exited the hospital. Judging by the sun he registering it to be around six o' clock, which meant he still had two hours to get ready for his meeting with Sasuki. He might as well go tell the Hokage about what had happened.

The guards at the door to the tower were a little more stubborn than usual today. Naruto had actually needed to resort to walking around the corner, Henge-ing into Mizuki of all people, and only then was he allowed entrance to the tower.

When he arrived at the door, 'Mizuki' knocked politely.

"Enter," Hiruzen responded firmly. 'Mizuki' walked through the door, closing it gently.

"You know Ojii-san," Naruto said as he undid his henge, "when a fresh nuke-nin is allowed through your security, and the Genin that stopped him from making off with this," Naruto tossed Hiruzen the Scroll of Sealing, "isn't allowed within five feet of the place, I think it's time to change your guards. Especially around that thing, seeing as I didn't have that much of a hard time getting to it."

Hiruzen let out a laugh before falling solemn, "Of course, Naruto-kun. I'd like to thank you on behalf of the village for stopping Mizuki from making off with anything valuable. Don't ask me how I know what happened, the crystal ball of the Hokage is a secret jutsu that only I know at the moment. Though, maybe one day I'll teach it to you."

Naruto chuckled. The old man was giving him answers without even being asked, and bribing him to keep his mouth shut. Either that, or he was bragging to try to ruffle the blonde's feathers. "All right then. Well, I'd suggest you pay Iruka-sensei for his troubles. If you already know what happened then I'll be off."

The blonde began to walk towards the door, only to be stopped by Hiruzen clearing his throat.

"Yes, Ojiji?"

"You don't expect me to let you walk out of here empty handed, do you? You were the one who killed Mizuki. Now, there wouldn't exactly be a bounty on his head seeing as he was Nuke for all of about half an hour before…well…you know, but certainly you deserve this to be put on your Shinobi record as your first successful mission as a Genin of Konoha. And, of course, your payment wouldn't be a burden either, would it?"

Naruto smirked. He wasn't even a Shinobi when this had happened, but Hiruzen had that twinkle in his aging eyes that told you he wasn't going to argue about this. Naruto nodded. "I'm willing to accept any payment you believe is necessary."

The aging man looked off into space, as if pondering something. "Now tell me, would you say that payment for a…let's call it a B-rank mission just for fun, would pay for a dinner for two at Ichiraku Ramen?" he asked, almost rubbing it in Naruto's face.

Said blonde blushed, "Why yes, I'd certainly say so. That should be more than enough," he replied. _'Way, way more than enough,' _he added mentally. He was starting to think that the old man had nothing better to do than keep track of his love life with that crystal ball of his.

Hiruzen smiled, handing Naruto a small pouch from a drawer in his desk. Mission payments were so much easier to organize when you just kept them in separate drawers. Naruto had gotten a bag from the Two-man-cell B-rank mission drawer. "That's your half of the wages. Iruka will receive his after his trip to the hospital is complete. For now, just go back home and get ready for your little date."

Naruto nodded. "It's…not a date," were his only words before he left the office.

"Anything you say, Naruto-kun. Just make sure you have her home by ten or the council may castrate you as punishment," the old man said with a laugh. Regretfully, he turned to a stack of paperwork that still had to be done.

"Why do they torture old men like me with paperwork like this. If only things were like they should be. Back in the old days when the village had a problem, I could usually just bash it in the face with Enma's staff form and be done with it."

Naruto's head popped back through the door. "Oh, and before I forget, isn't it nice knowing stuff like the Kage Bunshin. I bet it makes your paperwork so much easier to deal with."

The boy gave a wide grin and a quick raise of his eyebrows before he retreated once more.

Sarutobi threw his head back and laughed. "Some days I think that boy is smarter than he gives himself credit for."

Realizing the more he talked to himself, the more senile he became in his old age, the Hokage scrambled to get to work.

* * *

Naruto arrived outside the stand, waiting for his dinner date to arrive. He was a bit early, so the wait would be expected, but he was really craving some ramen right now. Two soft taps on the ground signaled Sasuki's arrival.

Naruto stared at her in awe. She was dressed like at the festival, only this time he could actually see it. She'd abandoned her navy T-shirt in favor of something that fit a bit more…snugly. Either she was using the Oiroke no Jutsu to increase the size of her chest – which he doubted seeing as she hadn't even seen that jutsu yet – or she had discarded her chest wrappings. Her khaki skirt had also gotten noticeably shorter, frayed at the legs and coming down about three quarters of the way to her knee. Did she cut it with a kunai or something? Her ninja gear was nowhere in sight, excluding her hitai-ate which was worn as more of a hair accessory than anything else. She was wearing it how Sakura did again, tied over the top of her skull instead of around her forehead. Was she wearing make-up, too? Maybe it just looked that way, but Naruto doubted it.

Either way, he felt bad about only coming in his black T-shirt with the red spiral on the front and back with his orange ninja pants again. He scratched the back of his head nervously, feeling the cloth of his own Hitai-ate. He'd forgotten to take it off, even when he had showered. The knot that kept it tied was still a little wet, which was annoying unless he stopped thinking about it. Sasuki smirked slightly. "So you passed?" she asked.

Naruto nodded in reply as the two walked into the stand. "That's actually a long story, I'll tell you tomorrow at the team placement orientation," he said as the two ordered their meals. Sasuki seemed to understand, but was still curious.

"Well, I told you that you could do it. I'm glad you made it," she said. "Who knows? With any luck we might end up on the same team."

Naruto chuckled, smirking widely at the raven haired girl. He really did want to be on the same team as her. He did have the lowest marks in the class after all, and she had the highest, so the chances of them getting in to 'balance the teams out' would be big. Especially since the Hokage already knew about them being friendly with each other nowadays, and seemed to be rather approving of the whole thing.

The conversation quickly went to the progress in training and current ideas for how to go about it. Naruto probably had the most effective method. "Well, my Fuingan is supposed to be activating soon, so maybe we can make a few gravity seals and other things like chakra suppressers to help us work on our stamina and capacity. Simple seals like that are supposed to be easy to make using the eyes."

Sasuki nodded, "that sounds good, but what if we have to wait a while, wouldn't it be better to perfect our elemental control first? I mean, I'm fire and you're wind so we should at least be able to make a few decent combinations. It also wouldn't hurt if we could get some background info on our potential sensei."

"Already on top of it. I've read about every Jounin in the village from the Aburame clan to the Yamanaka clan, and then Jounin without families like Mitarashi Anko or Hatake Kakashi," Naruto stated. Sasuki smiled at him, and the blonde blushed and scratched the back of his head. When it came to cool ninja, he was much more of a sponge than he was with anything that had to do with the academy.

"It's getting kind of late. Want me to walk you home?" Naruto offered. Sasuki's expression shifted from comfortable to surprised, and then back in half a second. Naruto felt like if he tried to do the same his face would get whiplash, or some kind of equivalent.

"Sure, that sounds alright I guess," she said. Naruto slapped some bills down on the table with a grin.

"Thanks for the grub old man!" Naruto called.

"Come back anytime, Naruto!" Teuchi called from the stove. The stand was fairly busy tonight, so it was no wonder that the owner was so focused on his work.

"Hey Sasuki," Naruto began as he caught the girl's glance. "Race ya!"

With that, the two were off in the direction of the Uchiha Compound. "Idiot! When you offer to walk a girl home don't make her exert herself!"

Naruto's grin was devious. "Does that mean you're admitting that I'm faster than you? Who knew that the Uchiha were capable of acts so humble!?"

"Narutooooo!" Sasuki yelled, her pace increasing.

"You'll never take me alive, coppers!" The blonde screamed, diving into an alleyway only to hop from one wall to the other and rapidly change the direction of his sprint. Tonight, Konoha would know no peace!

* * *

**_Hopefully that knocks out most of the weaknesses in this chapter. I realize that Naruto is steadily forming an ignorance to romantic feelings on Sasuki's end as I edit this more. Anyone like the idea?_**


	5. The Assembly of Squad 7

**_Updated last on 12.20.12. Merry Early Christmas, several more edits to come within the next few days. Perhaps even a new chapter on Christmas if I can do a quick DTR for our main pairing._**

* * *

After dropping the Uchiha Heiress off at her compound the blonde haired Namikaze strolled back to his apartment, a small grin on his face at the thought of how relaxing his bed sounded right now. He could almost hear the call of his covers from here, just outside the door. Rapidly, he produced a small key from his pocket and unlocked the door. He entered and made a deft swipe at the light switch. The ceiling buzzed softly in the background as the bulbs began to let off a dim glow, and before long Naruto had fallen face-first into his bed. A glance at the clock revealed that it was nine o' clock PM.

It was probably a big mistake to have done so. Almost instantly, thoughts of the coming day swirled around his head in a furious gale, leaving no room for anything else. What would his Sensei be like? Would he end up on the same team as Sasuki? Who would their third member be? These were the questions that only time could answer. Still, he couldn't help but have the worst case scenario run through his head.

He would be placed on a team with a terrible, ugly, perverted Sensei who refused to train him properly because of the Kyuubi. He'd be stuck with Sakura and Ino as team mates and would have to suffer through their endless gossip and rumors. There would be no use trying to get a transfer, all the other teams would either be full or not want him. Until the day he hit Chunin he would be subject to the most intense of all gender scrutiny by his female squad members, his flaws being pointed out mercilessly by lashing tongues, pointing fingers, and hateful glares. That was _not_ how he wanted to begin his Shinobi career.

He sighed, glancing at the deep blue shade in the sky. It was night time, and he didn't want to be late for the Squad Placements tomorrow. He quickly brushed off the negative images in his head, focusing only on the positives. Sasuki _would_ be on his team. His sensei _would_ train him properly. Sakura and Ino _wouldn't_ ruin his entire life until the glorious day he became a Chunin. Repeating these phrases, he shut his eyes, threw his pillow over his face, and did the only thing he could. Sleep.

* * *

The blonde was racing down the street the next morning, having woken up late and rushing to prepare himself. _"Dammit Konohamaru! Why did I try to take your shortcut in the first place!?_" the blonde mentally shouted. Sure, he and the Hokage's grandson certainly got along, but when the stunts the boy pulled while trying to surpass his 'boss' got out of hand Naruto usually ended up suffering for it.

The entire relationship between the two boys had been decided on the whim of the Hokage. Ebisu had a lot of built up vacation time at some point during Naruto's penultimate year in the academy, which was surprising due to the very little amount of vacation time a Jounin who specialized in teaching could accumulate over time. What was more surprising was the fact that Sarutobi had assigned Naruto of all people to watch the boy while Ebisu was on leave.

To put it frankly, Konohamaru had run Naruto into the ground. Running around the whole village, demanding that he be taught super-strong techniques after taking so long to simply learn the Oiroke – which he had gone so far as to call a technique for dummies, Naruto might add – was ridiculous. How could someone so unskilled be so terribly hard to look after? If Naruto didn't know better, he'd think that the old man was trying to punish him or teach him some sort of lesson. Come on, how much of a brat can you be before you realize that your stupid little decrees are starting to annoy people?

Oh…

"_Goddammit Ojiji!"_ Naruto's mind roared, suddenly even more furious than ever. It was a good thing, though. The rage gave the blonde the energy to sprint all the way to the academy. He wasn't even that late, if he was late at all. Iruka-sensei wasn't there, and that was good enough for him.

"What the hell are you doing here, dobe? This orientation is for Shinobi only! Pack your bags and come back when classes start up again, you're not needed." Sakura screamed at him. She was obviously sore about something. He visibly shrunk and frowned. His elation of making it in time was trampled on just a bit. Shaking his head back and forth he drew his Konoha Hitai-ate from his weapons pouch.

"Iruka-sensei seems to think I'm useful for something." He replied, tying the cloth to his forehead. His usual smirk graced his features and he sat down next to Sasuki. However, at that point Kiba and another nameless male Academy graduate burst through the doors. "I WIN!" they both exclaimed.

They both glared at one another, sparks flying as the growls began. "Just give up; I beat you to the door," Kiba snarled. The other boy chuckled.

"Really, because I seem to remember that my big toe crossed the entrance before yours."

Kiba looked blankly at his rival when he said this, his expression slowly growing more and more annoyed.

"THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? YOU SOUND LIKE A FREAKING CHICK! GROW A PAIR AND USE YOUR FISTS LIKE A MAN!" The canine-like youth bellowed, slamming a solid cross into the face of the other male, sending the boy flying across the room, leaving Kiba free to walk over to Naruto and Sasuki.

"Hey, Kiba." Naruto said with a short wave. However, the blonde was unceremoniously lifted out of his seat and thrown to the desk in front of it, Kiba taking his spot next to Sasuki.

"Oi! Where do you get off with a stunt like that! I was just trying to be polite." Naruto shouted. Kiba glared harshly at him, as if Naruto had obviously done something wrong.

"A polite person would have known that I'm the only one who gets to sit next to Sasuki-chan, idiot!" Kiba seethed. Naruto returned his glare evenly. He liked Kiba just fine, but when Sasuki got involved things just weren't the same. Naruto blamed hormones. Dogs and other animals were more susceptible to influence by their hormones, right?

Sasuki chuckled softly. "What's the problem, dobe? If you've got one, then try exercising that weak head of yours and figure out a way to solve it."

Naruto knew that Sasuki still wasn't comfortable with how the whole village would react to her suddenly befriending 'the demon,' but did she have to treat him the same way she used to at school? She could have at least toned it down a bit. "Shut up, Sasuki-teme," Naruto replied, playing along and getting in her face. "I don't need you chastising me all the time. I just think that it's a little…mmph!"

He was cut off by the student to his rear, who in the process of standing up had knocked into him. Maybe he was trying to get a better look at the argument. Actually, going his proclamation of "No way!" he probably wasn't paying any attention to the situation at all. Regardless, this completely closed the gap between Sasuki's face and Naruto's, and their mouths – more importantly their lips – crashed into one another.

The entire room fell silent as the pair of Genin began their unexpected kiss. Their lips remained locked, both of their eyes as wide as plates. Blushes crept up both their faces as they slowly parted their lips. "Sa…Sasuki…I'm sorry," Naruto mumbled. He scratched at the back of his neck nervously, looking away.

"Naruto…that was…I don't…"

Before the raven haired girl could finish her statement, or even think of how to start it for that matter, Kiba's fist came out of nowhere and slammed the blonde in the side of the face, sending him across the room in much the same way the Inuzuka's former rival had gone flying. The scary thing wasn't Kiba's violence, however. It was the fact that the rest of Sasuki's fan club had gathered behind him. All, of course, were thinking the same thing.

"_YOU BASTARD! SASUKI-CHAN WAS SUPPOSED TO SHARE HER FIRST KISS WITH ME!"_ Kiba said, vocalizing the opinion of the collective group. As if that was the signal to being, they charged at Naruto with murderous intent in their eyes. Naruto glanced at them coldly, the same expression of detachment painting itself across his features that he bore when the villagers attacked. Sasuki's eyes filled with fear as attack after attack began to connect, but no matter what Naruto didn't scream, he barely batted an eyelash.

When it was over, her blonde friend was laying on the floor, the only sign of life being his open eyes and the small twitching movements of his fingers. Sasuki wanted to say something, wanted to scream at them. Tears stung at her eyes, and just before she was able to stand up and beat Kiba to a pulp, something stopped her.

"That all you got?" Naruto said with a chuckle. Kiba whipped around to see the blonde struggling to stand. He was covered in injuries. Bruised, bleeding, his lip cut, and a big black eye now marked his face. His jaw, which Kiba thought he'd broken, was apparently fine now, seeing as the blonde was speaking.

"You know the one thing I hate about people like you? You just can't seem to figure out that I'm better off left _alone_!" Naruto slowly limped over to the boy, astonishing everyone with his ability to stay conscious with the way Kiba and his band of merry fanboys had treated him. "You've barely even scratched the surface of what I go through, and yet you still think you're better than me."

Kiba was backing away in fear as the dark purple hues on Naruto's skin slowly faded to their original color. No one healed that fast without Medical Ninjutsu, and as far as he was aware Naruto knew none. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, but if you _ever_ plan on attacking me again bring something a bit more lethal, will ya?"

Sasuki felt that if the time were more appropriate that she would have laughed, but in this kind of a situation Naruto's words seemed to hold a bit more serious of an intention. Did he really want to die?

Kiba had no time to respond to the challenge as Iruka walked through the doors to the classroom not two seconds after the blonde had finished his sentence. "Alright everyone, please take your seats, I'm sure you're all eager to meet your Jounin Sensei today. Please take note that teams cannot be changed once they are assigned. It's not too often we let Genin question the word of the Hokage, after all," Iruka said, chuckling loftily at his own joke.

Half an hour went by as Iruka went through the list of squad placements, handing an introduction letter to each member of the team. Naruto glanced curiously at these letters. Was this just a standardized document, or was it something more? Surely Hokage-Ojii didn't have time in his busy schedule to write a personal letter to each of the graduating Genin.

The time to think was cut short, however, when Iruka arrived at a specific grouping. "Squad Seven is the three man cell to be instructed by Hatake Kakashi." Naruto recognized the name from his book. He was the so-called Copy-Cat ninja of Konoha as well as the son of the White Fang. He held the Uchiha's beloved Sharingan, and was supposedly the last living student of the Yondaime Hokage. Naruto's father.

"The members of this grouping will be Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto's ears perked, he wanted to see the reaction of those who would be stuck with him.

"Haruno Sakura."

Naruto and Sakura blanched in unison, but their thoughts were quite different. Naruto was praying to Kami that at the very least Ino would be absent from his team and instead be staying in the typical Ino-Shika-Chou formation he'd read about, whereas Sakura was desperately hoping _for_ Ino. She couldn't be stuck with Naruto and not have her best friend. It was too terrible to imagine.

"And Uchiha Sasuki. Please come and accept your letters from Hokage-sama."

Naruto and Sasuki sighed in relief, but Sakura frowned. Great, she wasn't put on a team with some amazing guy, she wasn't with her best friend, and to top it all off she was with Naruto. Sasuki didn't make it quite as bad as say Naruto and Kiba or Naruto and Shino, but the team still held several downs for the girl.

And who was this Hatake Kakashi? What would he be like? She had plenty of time to sift through her questions, because even an hour after the last Jounin Sensei had shown up and claimed their students, hers hadn't shown up yet. That left her completely alone in the room with Naruto and Sasuki seeing as Iruka had apologized and left fifteen minutes ago.

With a wayward glance towards the other two members of her team, she pondered just how Naruto had pulled off healing that fast from the bruises he'd received. He had terrible chakra control, so it couldn't be Medical Ninjutsu. He was an orphan, and she'd never heard of an Uzumaki clan, so it may be an unknown Kekkei Genkai of some sort, but the chances of Naruto belonging to some clan with a Kekkei Genkai were slim to none.

While Sakura was pondering the new mysteries that surrounded Naruto, the blonde was busy scheming. "Alright, I can't take it anymore. This guy's late enough as it is," he said, walking up to the chalkboard, grabbing an eraser. Sasuki smirked coyly, knowing what he was planning the second he grabbed it.

"Just don't come crying to me when it doesn't work. The man's a Jounin, after all," she sighed. Naruto laughed, propping the eraser between the sliding door and the wall. With that, he strolled back to his seat and propped his elbow on the table and his chin on his hand.

"If it doesn't, then I'll still get a decent run in at the end," the blonde shrugged. The statement piqued Sakura's interest. Naruto was fast, but this was a Jounin he was dealing with. What gave him the illusion that he could beat a Jounin in a footrace? It was impossible-improbable at the least. His expression indicated he was serious, and that made her despise him all the more.

"Yeah, and after a thirty second thrill ride he'll kill you," she said in an outburst of anger. Honestly, he was so arrogant, so _cocky_ sometimes. He wasn't all that, so why would he act like it? No one believed him or this stupid show he put on. "Really, I don't care how fast you are, you're not going to beat a Jounin, Naruto. Grow up."

Naruto visibly tensed at this, gritting his teeth. "How the hell would you know?" he seethed. He slammed his hands down on the desk he was sitting at and in a blur he was in front of the pink haired girl. "Do you know what kind of running I have to do every day just to stay alive to start running the next? No, you don't, so shut up and sit down or I'll have to hurt you."

Sasuki put a hand on the blonde's shoulder, making him whip around and bat it off. She looked at him with a concerned shimmer in her eyes. It seemed to relax him, and he went from uptight and rigid to cool and calculating. He took a glance over his shoulder at her. "Besides, you're even weaker than my idiot self, so why don't you ditch this stupid idea of a perfect guy out there somewhere and train instead of wasting your time on this pathetic game you and Ino seem to enjoy so much."

Sakura's eyes widened. How dare he say that to her! Even if he was confident, exuding chakra like there was no tomorrow and aiming the stuff directly at her, he'd crossed a line. But still…it wasn't even a way they taught how to attack in the academy, and she felt lightheaded from the sheer force of his chakra release.

The door opened then, and the eraser fell onto the chalky silver hair of a masked man with his leaf Hitai-ate covering his left eye. He paused, shaking his head to remove the barely visible powder from his upright hair, and gave what would be a frown if the mask didn't cover the lower portion of his face.

"My first impression is…that you're all pathetic."

He spoke slowly, as if he were talking to six year olds. "Let's try to correct that, shall we? Meet me up on the roof. If you make it in less than three minutes, my opinion of you may change slightly," Kakashi said, disappearing in a small tornado of leaves.

"Konoha Shunshin, eh? I just may have to ask you to teach me that when I get up to that roof," Naruto said with a smirk, cracking his knuckles. He turned to face Sasuki and Sakura. "Meet you there Sasuki-chan. Sakura," and with that he thrusted his body forwards with a powerful slam of his foot against the ground.

The Uchiha heiress was quick to follow, exiting with speeds near what the blonde was moving at. Sakura began to jog forwards, envisioning the two of her other teammates panting and heaving halfway to the top while she passed them, achieving all the glory. _'They can't keep a pace like that on the stairs after all,'_ she thought.

She regretted her decision later, after passing many flights of stairs in the ten stories of the building. She dashed as fast as she could at the halfway point, finally making it up the last flight and onto the roof. She bent over, pressing her hands against her knees and breathing heavily.

"Two minutes, fifty-five point three seconds…you were forty-five seconds behind your other female teammate, almost a minute and fifteen seconds behind the blonde one," Kakashi mumbled, gazing at his stopwatch. Sakura winced, taking a look over to a small ledge that Naruto and Sasuki had taken seats on. Well, Sasuki was sitting. Naruto was dangling from the roof with his hands behind his head, his lower legs clinging to the ledge, making him look a bit like a clothes hangar. Leave it to Naruto to pull something like that. The boy just couldn't sit still.

"I'm sorry, Sensei," she said through her panting. Kakashi shook his head.

"Don't be, at least you're physically competent for a Genin. That's all I was looking for," he shrugged, pointing to the ledge. "If you'd be so kind as to join your comrades, I'll begin the introductions."

In a sullen fashion, Sakura joined Naruto and Sasuki on the cement barrier. Kakashi nodded and took out a little orange book from his weapons' pouch. The cover read _Icha Icha Paradise_ on the front. Naruto caught one look at it after rising from his daredevil position and everyone went silent.

"You're a pervert, aren't you Hatake-sensei," He stated. Kakashi looked blankly at the group for another few seconds before nodding.

"Does it bother you that a little bit of erotic literature intrigues me from time to time?" he responded. Naruto shook his head and grinned. Obviously, the boy had already confirmed his opinion of the man. He seemed thrilled.

"Nope. In my opinion, pervs are always great ninja. Just look at the author of that book in your hand; Jiraiya of the Sannin," Naruto chuckled. Sakura and Sasuki gasped. The very thought of such an amazing and upstanding Shinobi, whose very name had become essential knowledge at the academy, being a part of the most elite group of perverts known to the Elemental Nations was beyond them.

"Alright, enough of the flattery. Since you seem to be so talkative, why don't you introduce yourself to us first? All we need is your name, likes and dislikes, hobbies, dreams, stuff like that," the Cyclops suggested.

Naruto was quick to nod, then rubbed his chin and looked up, as if pondering the way to perfectly word his answer. He blinked a few times and smirked, obviously getting his answer. "I go by Uzumaki Naruto, but just Naruto is fine by me. I like training, gardening, and ramen. I dislike the people who underestimate me just because of my low marks in school, and when I don't have anyone to be around. My hobbies are learning new jutsu, sparring with Sasuki-chan, and gardening. As for my dream for the future, I have two. The first is to become the greatest Hokage, and gain the respect of my villagers. The second is to start a family of my own. I suppose the reasoning behind that would be kind of obvious and all, given my home life."

Kakashi nodded, accepting the response. "Very well then, I hope you get the chance to prove yourself soon. Why don't you go next?" he stated, pointing to Sakura. The pink haired girl nodded, taking a deep breath. Naruto had made an okay first impression, but she would top it for sure.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like studying and learning everything I can. I dislike annoying people who get in my way and arrogance from others who think they're so great. My hobbies are dating and shopping with my best friend Ino. My dream for the future is to find Mr. Right and settle down with a family," she said proudly as her head rose a little higher in the air.

He gave another sullen nod. There was nothing wrong with her introduction, but just by her body language and the way she spoke, he could tell that there would be several problems with this one along the way. He noted the slight arrogance, something that wouldn't build towards the cohesive unit he'd had in mind when it came to actually training a team. He really hated putting all his time into students like this. That was a big part of why he'd gone so long without a team and joined the ANBU. This was his first year back as a Sensei, and he was already being attacked by his worst nemesis (next to Gai, that is.) A modern teenage girl.

"Alright. Next up, the Uchiha."

Sasuki looked up, sharpening her focus, and nodded. "My name is Uchiha Sasuki. I like training, reading, and writing – calligraphy, that is. I don't dislike many things, but some things…some people get on my nerves quite a bit. My hobbies are sparring, researching the history of the Uchiha, and fighting with different kinds of weapons. My dream for the future…no, my _ambition_ is to kill a certain man, bring back the honor of the Uchiha clan, and then rebuild it to its former glory."

Kakashi nodded for the third and final time. He understood the hatred that Sasuki held for her older brother, but he needed to make sure that revenge didn't become her entire life. However, his concerns for this were quelled slightly when he heard that she wanted to rebuild the clan. It seemed that everyone on his team just wanted a family for multiple different reasons.

"Very well, since you have informed me about yourselves, I will do the same. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like literature, and being a part of a team. I don't have many dislikes, but my hobbies are training and teaching. My dreams for the future…well that doesn't concern you, now does it?"

Naruto smirked. At least it had been a slightly informative introduction. Besides, it didn't really matter what was said now. First impressions were important, of course. But what really mattered was what you learned from experience over time. He had a feeling that he'd be learning more from teamwork with the man than anything else. After all, that was the Copycat Ninja's specialty.

"Well then, if we're all done here then I'll be taking my leave. Meet me at Training Ground Seven tomorrow at Seven AM. Oh, and don't eat. You'll puke," the silver haired Jounin said, waving the group off. Sakura was the first out the door, rushing past Naruto and Sasuki to take the stairs back down.

"I'll meet you at our usual spot for training then," Sasuki said, glancing at Naruto before hopping from the roof and bounding across the village. Naruto smirked at the antics of his teammate. A more serious look crossed his face as he sensed that Kakashi was still behind him.

"She's still kind of new to the whole orphan thing," he said aloud. Kakashi didn't reply. Maybe it was because he didn't feel like it, or maybe it was because he wanted the blonde to elaborate, but either way Naruto continued.

"I lied, you know. About the reason I wanted to become Hokage. I've done my reading, studied all of the Kage that held up their villages. Seems to me that the only way to do your job as one is to fight tooth and nail for your home and people. You never give in, even if it means death. If your life can save hundreds then why not give it up? That's the logic behind it, I think. I don't want anyone else ending up like you, me, or Sasuki. That's why I'm going to be the Hokage. I'll give up my life before I let anyone lose theirs in vain. That's what the Jinchuuriki were meant for, after all."

There was silence between the two for a few moments before Kakashi finally broke it. "I'll help you with that any way I can. Remember though, you shouldn't lose your life when it's not necessary either. Everyone's worth something," he said.

"Well, we can't all go out like my dad, now can we Hatake-sensei?" Naruto asked with a smirk. Kakashi shook his head. The Hokage had told him that Naruto knew about his father, so this wasn't unexpected, but the way he could be so lighthearted about it was a little troubling.

"No, but your father, my Sensei, was definitely meant to be the Yondaime Hokage. It didn't matter how the vote turned out, it didn't even matter what the civilian council had to say about it. He was the one who was going to protect us with his life, and he did. People say that the strongest ninja in the village, the one who is most respected gets the hat, but if you ask me I think that trust is a better sign of leadership than strength. The Kyuubi is safely contained, and he will be for as long as you're alive. We all trusted your father to do his job, and more than anything I want you to know that I'll be happy to see the day come where you can put the same trust in me and I in you, Namikaze Naruto."

Kakashi flickered away in a whirlwind of leaves, leaving Naruto smirking to himself. He needed to go meet Sasuki at their training grounds, of course, so he jumped from the roof and hit the ground running full speed. He maneuvered his way around the civilians, as well as a fellow Shinobi (He loved the way that sounded) here and there, and soon he had reached the tree line.

'_Trust more than strength, huh?'_

He dodged around the trees as quickly as possible, jumping to the tree branches about halfway through. He skidded to a halt when he reached the clearing, and surprisingly found the Uchiha heiress just lying down in the middle of it.

"Shikamaru rubbing off on you?" Naruto asked, strolling over to her. She smirked, pulling herself to her feet while keeping her gaze on the sky.

"A little, I guess. I was just thinking. Tomorrow's a big day, and we've both been training really hard lately. We don't want to wear ourselves out, do we?" she asked.

Naruto had absolutely no idea what was going on. Did Uchiha Sasuki, one of the most dedicated Shinobi he'd ever met, suggest they take a break? The very notion was so far out of character the blonde felt like he was going into shock. "Uh…you sure?" He asked. He really couldn't think of anything better to say. Whereas a break didn't sound so bad, he could help but wonder if this was all just some elaborate trick question or trap.

"Yeah, why not? It's been a long time since we've spent any time together as just…friends." She looked away at this, trying desperately to mask the red that rushed to her cheeks. The kiss earlier today was still awkwardly fresh in her mind, and she needed a bit more time to think things out. The feeling of it all was just so amazing, but entirely odd at the same time. She had no idea how to deal with these new feelings. And although she wouldn't show it, that kiss meant a lot more to her than just some freak accident.

"Alright, any idea as to what you want to do then?" Naruto asked, still feeling a bit nervous about the whole situation. He had his own feelings about the kiss. He felt stupid, he knew she didn't like it, and because of that he felt shame, regret, and all the synonyms for feeling like crap you could think of. The reason for it being because he'd actually somewhat enjoyed it.

Neither of the two wanted to admit it, but right now the same thing was going through their minds. They could both just picture slowly getting closer and closer to one another, pretending not to notice, until finally the only thing left to do was just move their necks not even an inch towards the other, closing the gap between them and letting their emotions take over. The very thought was tantalizing, intriguing, and the urge to do so was only suppressed by the notion that the opposite party wanted nothing like that.

Naruto was stirred from his reverie when Sasuki finally spoke up. "How about we just go walk around town for a while. I'm sure we'll find something to do."

He blanched. Walk and town never went into the same sentence for him unless it was something like "Never walk through town, run." However, he nodded in agreement and the two were off.


	6. Teamwork

**_Last updated: 二月一日, 2013_**

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The walk through town turned out much better than Naruto had expected it to. He'd caught the occasional glare, but crowds did not form to attack him and insults were not spat in his direction as they usually were. Still, he had to admit that during the walk he'd seen more of Konoha than he'd ever hoped to. The streets of the town were downright uncomfortable at times, but he'd apparently masked his panic well enough that Sasuki hadn't noticed. Much to his surprise, every time they entered a store he was pretty much left alone. The feeling of being ignored was new, and he liked it.

Though Naruto typically found great pain and boredom in shopping, he was surprised to find that with Sasuki it wasn't so bad. She didn't spend too much time in any one store trying on every combination of every article of clothing in the building as he had formerly been lead to believe all girls did, and because she was buying practically nothing she insisted on carrying her own bag. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that she was up to something. She was shifting her glance between the shop windows and him, and Naruto found that more than a little unsettling.

Oddly enough, the next store they went into was owned by a fairly popular male shinobi outfitter. Why were they going in there? As far as he knew, Sasuki didn't have anyone she needed to buy anything for.

"_Wait, that jacket she's eyeing looks like it's about my size," _

"Eh, Sasuki, what exactly are we in here for?" the blonde asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm getting you some new clothes."

"What do you mean new clothes?!" Naruto shouted, attracting the attention of the better half of the shop in the process. There was no way that he was getting rid of his wardrobe, no matter how small it was. He liked his clothes; they were all his favorite color.

"_No, she can't be trying to…"_

"This is all some secret plot to strip me of my orange, isn't it?!"

"Naruto, when we're on a mission I'm not letting the enemy pick up where you are with those pants. They're terrible for stealth! Look at them; they're all raggedy and stained. Don't you ever get tired of them?" Sasuki rebutted.

The blonde had to admit that this particular pair of pants had seen better days. They were old, and a little too small for him, but that shouldn't matter. It was warm out. Of course, during the warmer weather the blonde tended to shed his jacket in favor of his black T-shirt with the red Konoha symbol on the back, which is why Sasuki was only complaining about his pants. He was certain that if his jacket had been present she would allow no argument about buying him new clothes.

"No way! I'm not letting you near these. Take the jacket, if you must, but not my pants," Naruto replied, taking a step back as if to defend his garments from assault. Sighing, Sasuki decided to suspend this particular battle. Besides, orange did kind of suit him.

When they arrived back at the Uchiha Complex, Naruto thanked Sasuki for her time and bade her farewell until the next day. "With any luck we may just trump Hatake-sensei at this test. I'll see what I can find out before then," he said with a smirk before turning in the direction of his apartment. Before he could begin the journey though, he was stopped by the heiress.

"Naruto, wait a second," Sasuki spoke suddenly. She was at his side in an instant, much to the blonde's surprise. He turned slightly so as to face the raven haired girl and only then cared to notice the slight blush on her face. This caused a small spark in his brain, which lead to a chain reaction of thoughts on today's earlier events; mainly them kissing. Soon a creeping blush of his own formed, and he brought a hand up to scratch the back of his head.

"Sasuki, look. If this is about what happened earlier today, I just want to say that I'm sorry," Naruto murmured. Sasuki's eyes shot over to the left as her blush deepened again. He had read her mind, and for some reason she felt more comfortable because of it. Maybe it was because she could understand his feelings as well. They were beginning to understand one another, and although she was slightly scared, it also brought a feeling of elation.

She thought about when they'd kissed that morning. Sure, it was an accident, but it _did _mean something that he didn't pull away as fast as possible and act grossed out. She, of course, had the same fault against her.

It hadn't been much in the terms of a kiss. It was simple, innocent, and sweet. There just wasn't any intimacy behind it. She'd had a taste, but was curious of just what it would be like really kissing the blonde.

That would be stupid, though. At least, that's what she thought it would be. Then again, how did she know it would be stupid? The answer that came to mind was that it was Naruto, but surely with all that he'd done in the past few weeks such an answer wouldn't really qualify as a reason to not give it a try.

"Hold still for a second," she said as she latched onto his shoulders with a gentle grip and pulled herself up the inch or so she needed to plant a chaste kiss on his lips.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. What was she doing? Why here, in public? Without thinking, his arms slowly snaked around her waist, his eyes shut and he pressed his own mouth further against the Uchiha's. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and running a hand through the hair on the back of his head. He could get used to this. Here they were, making out, and she'd been the one to start it. And if that wasn't enough, here's the topper, it was so much _better_ than last time. He couldn't break it off; he had no willpower to do so.

Sasuki's mind was racing as they exchanged the kiss. The key word being exchanged. He was actually letting her do this, and returning the gesture. Everything was foggy, and the entire world seemed to go silent. When they finally broke apart, they had nothing to say. They just stared at one another while panting. "So. How was it?" Sasuki asked, her voice barely a whisper. If Naruto wasn't mistaken she was almost expecting something.

"Sasuki, that was…I don't even know any words that I could use to describe that," he stammered. Sasuki latched onto him again, wrapping her arms around his neck. Naruto welcomed the embrace, still running off of instinct due to the shock she'd put him under. "I thought…I thought you hated what happened today," he said finally. Sasuki laughed lightly, releasing him from the hug.

"No, I didn't. I actually kinda liked it," she said with a rather uncharacteristic girly smirk. "I just wanted to make it a bit better. It was a little awkward the first time."

This is when her doubt kicked in, and she tried to cover up the situation. Could a relationship with Uzumaki Naruto, especially one of this intensity, really work out? She was just a girl, not even thirteen years old, and she had just given her first kiss away. If that didn't means something she didn't know what did. She needed to make this look like it was no big deal.

"Don't think much of it, though. I decided that teasing you just this once about what you're going to be missing out on would be fun. The Uchiha were also known to be the best kissers in Konoha, you know." The smirk turned playful and bragging, and then she blushed again. "Of course, if you want, you can start calling me Sasuki-chan like you did that night we spent at my place again."

Naruto chuckled. It was still the same old Sasuki, always bragging about her clan and how perfect they were. Of course, that brought up a twinge of sorrow in his chest, seeing as he knew she couldn't be all that comfortable mentioning her family. "Alright then, Sasuki…chan," he pushed himself up, standing and offering a hand to help her right herself as well. She took it, pulling herself up and walking through the gates to her home, "Guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya, Naruto-kun," she replied, waving. Naruto shook his head, his eyes catching how her hips swayed just a bit more than usual as well as the smirk of a victor plastered across her face.

"She'll be the death of me," Naruto sighed. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked towards his apartment. "Well, it's not like it'll be a bad way to go, though," he grinned. Suddenly, he was blinded with a flash of pink and red and dragged into the closest alleyway.

Said blur proceeded to throw him against the wall, rear back a fist and send it flying at him. He dodged, the fist crashing against the bricks that made up the alley. "What are you doing with Sasuki you idiot!?" the figure screamed. Naruto now recognized the figure as Sakura, mostly due to the scream of rage which he'd become so accustomed to.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto replied, dodging yet another angry fist. "Sakura, you're insane!" he yelled, growing more frustrated with each passing second. Had she been _spying_ on them? How had he not noticed her? Better yet, why was she trying to hit him? Sasuki had been the one to kiss him, she must have seen that. Well, he really didn't know that for a fact. She could have shown up after the kiss started. Damn her perfect chakra control and his inability to sense it. He was dodging fist after fist because of it now, and was quickly getting tired of it.

When he finally got fed up, he grabbed onto her wrists and spun around, pinning her against the wall. "STOP TRYING TO HIT ME!" he screamed.

Sakura froze with panic as rage crossed over his face. It was like this morning when Kiba and the band of merry fanboys had pummeled him. This time, though, he wasn't healing from any wound incredibly fast, because there was nothing to heal from. She had to admit it; he still sort of scared her. No, he really scared her. The idea of Naruto scaring anyone was just beyond her. She had never seen this side of him until today. He was angry, violent, and it looked like he didn't care about anything you did to him. Tears welled up in her eyes. This, however, only served to make the blonde more furious with her for some reason. "And now you're just going to cry and apologize! What kind of an idiot do you think I am? People like you pop up every day, and they just love watching me squirm. I'm done with this."

He'd been tricked enough times. People would pretend to be his friends, only to be the ones to hold him down as some drunk beat him into another coma with a crowd cheering them on. He wouldn't be the victim anymore. Not for Sakura at least.

Naruto dropped the pinkette, turning and stomping down the alley. "Hold on, Naruto. Just answer one question for me," she spoke in a concerned tone, wiping the welling pools of tears from her eyes. The blonde turned his head in her direction, his sharp glare piercing her eyes, and just waited. He didn't say a word, almost as if he didn't have any hope for the question. "Why did you kiss Sasuki? And why did she kiss you?"

So she had seen Sasuki kiss him? Then why was she going berserk on him? "Well, for one, that's two questions," the blonde stated, but quickly moved on as Sakura looked about ready to put her fist through his head again for his smart remarks.

"As for me kissing her, that was an accident. Some guy stood up and bumped into me. Sasuki-chan just so happened to catch me with her lips, as stupid as that sounds."

Sakura smirked at his response. The kid in front of him had been standing, so the story was believable enough. "Then what about just now? It's not like there was anyone around to bump into you as an excuse," she chided with a playful tone.

Naruto turned to fully face her, scratching the back of his neck and looking down. "I'm not too sure what that was about either. Sasuki-chan said she wanted to 'show me what I'd be missing out on' or something like that. Personally, I think she was just being a bit arrogant," he chuckled, and Sakura couldn't fight the urge to join in. It was a well known fact that Sasuki, like all Uchiha, took great pride in herself and in her clan.

"What I don't understand is why she decided to kiss _you_ of all…" she cut her comment short with a guilty look on her face. "Sorry," she offered, hoping he wouldn't become angry again. To her surprise, she was met with a wide grin and a slightly comforting hand placed on her shoulder.

"Look, I don't mind if you talk crap to my face. But when you can't show the guts and do it behind my back, that's when I get offended," he grinned playfully at the pinkette who nodded slowly. "Guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow, too. Well, you better get home and rest. Hatake-sensei's gonna be a stickler when it comes to this training session if what I've read about him is even halfway accurate. G'night Sakura." The blonde said as he turned around, offering a farewell wave as he strolled down the alleyway.

"Oh, and one more thing. Eat up. He's gonna be pretty late," he offered up a cackle, which only lead to Sakura pondering what Naruto would do to ensure this statement. He was a pretty bad prankster already. Who knew what he could do to just one person when he already struck fear in the heart of the village whenever that twisted grin popped up on his face. She shuddered at the mental images of all the bad that could happen.

"For your sake Naruto, I hope you really can outrun him," she mumbled under her breath as she exited the alley. Then again, the thought of Kakashi actually _catching_ Naruto set off more intriguing images. Maybe having Naruto on her squad wouldn't be so bad after all. As long as he didn't prank her, that was. At least things would never get boring.

* * *

Naruto dropped his form onto the mattress in his apartment, content with the day's events. He'd spent a few hours waiting for his sensei at the academy of course, but the awesome prank he'd pulled was worth it. Too bad Hatake-sensei's hair had blended in with the chalk. "Well, might as well figure out what this training tomorrow may be before I hit the sack." Naruto spoke to himself, taking out his copy of _History of the Kage and Other Elite Ninja of the Shinobi World _while he put some water on the stove for his dinner.

The blonde licked his finger and leafed through a few pages until he came upon what he was looking for. The section on Hatake Kakashi: The Copycat Ninja. "Let's see…original teammates… specialties… lineage… here we go," the blonde said, scanning over the section about his Nindo. It was a fairly simple read, only one quote.

"Those who break the rules are trash. However, those who abandon a comrade are worse than that," Naruto read aloud.

Just then, the teapot began to whistle, signaling his water and the pot of noodles he'd started were done. Naruto jumped up from his bed, placing the book and his Hitai-ate on his dresser and dashed to the stove. He took out a bowl from the kitchen, threw the water into the bowl which was quickly followed by a packet of instant ramen flavoring, the noodles, and some vegetables. "Ittadakimasu!" he cried before digging in.

The test was definitely going to involve teamwork, which meant he'd need everyone's cooperation. He'd talk about it with Sasuki and Sakura in the morning. Until then, it was time for bed. He pulled on his favorite nightcap and proceeding to the bathroom where he brushed his teeth. He collapsed onto his mattress again and was soon sleeping.

A single though crossed his mind just before he was out for the night. _"Damn it she was right. I want another kiss._"

* * *

When the blonde woke up the next morning he was quick to shower and change. After he finished preparing himself he dashed out the door as quick as he could scarf down two pieces of toasted bread and a glass of milk. His book had mentioned Kakashi's constant tardiness to every event imaginable. This was a little nugget of information that Naruto would be using to his advantage.

He scrounged through his wallet, Gama-chan, and came up with just enough cash to buy two breakfast bento for Sasuki and Sakura in case they'd forgotten to eat. Shoving them in his backpack, he took off at top speed towards the training grounds. When he arrived, he noticed that he was the last one there excluding his sensei.

"Hey, Hatake-sensei's gonna be late. You two want any food?" he asked casually, taking off his backpack and opening it to reveal the bentos inside. Sasuki looked up in confusion and Sakura in suspicion. She didn't trust the blonde as far as she could punch him. Admittedly, with chakra behind her fists that was rather far, but still.

"What'd you do this time, Naruto?" Sakura asked, a look of boredom occupying her face. Naruto sighed, shaking his head. Did she insist on blaming him for some nonexistent turn of events? Whatever Hatake-sensei did while being tardy, Naruto was completely unaware of. It wasn't in the book, after all.

"I didn't do anything. What Hatake-sensei does with his time isn't any of my business. Besides, one prank is one thing. Another on top of that and we're dealing with an entirely different animal. Trust me, pranks typically don't make things pretty," he shrugged, glanced at his backpack and noticed Sasuki had already taken her bento without his knowing. "Rather sneaky, Sasuki-chan."

Sasuki smirked, "So I'm guessing you figured out she was tailing us?" the ravenette said, pointing to Sakura, who blushed deeply and looked away in guilt. Naruto panicked for a second, then remembered Sakura knew they'd been hanging out. Of course, this brought on curiosity as to how Sasuki had figured it out.

"You knew?" Naruto asked incredulously. Sasuki nodded, slowly eating her rice out of the box of food. Sakura, of course, felt terrible now. She had been found out. Not only was her pride at her ability to control her chakra hurt, but now she felt like she was invading their privacy, which she had been.

"I'm sorry, but you can't blame me. You two were acting really weird. One minute you're insulting one another in class and then I find you on some kind of date at a festival. Investigating in that situation isn't all that weird, is it?" she asked. Both Naruto and Sasuki blushed at the mention of the word date.

"I-it wasn't a d-date," Naruto stammered. Why did everyone keep calling it that? They were just two friends that had decided to spend time together without any other friends around. That was nothing like a date, was it? "And besides, that's no justification to go around _stalking_ us. Investigation my ass," he concluded, trying to strengthen his voice in defense.

Sakura rolled her eyes, reaching into Naruto's backpack and taking the last remaining bento. "Yeah, right," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "When is Kakashi-sensei supposed to show up anyways? We can't wait all day like we did last time," the pinkette asked him. Naruto smirked.

"Believe it or not, he has his reasons. All we can do for now is wait and come up with some kinda plan. I was reading a bit more about him last night, turns out he's a stickler for teamwork, which means we're going to need to work together," Naruto replied. "I have no idea what kind of 'training' he has planned for today though, so I might just have to play it by ear. I need you two to promise you'll cooperate."

Sasuki gave a short nod, and with a moment's hesitation so did Sakura. "If you try to sabotage me, I'm out," she said, pointing at the blonde. Naruto chuckled, agreeing to her terms. The girls finished eating, handing the bentos back to Naruto, who shoved the empty wooden containers in his backpack and promptly threw the bag behind a tree.

When Kakashi arrived an hour or two later his group stood from their relaxed positions. He noticed that whereas Sakura and Sasuki gained his immediate attention Naruto's eyes were a bit slower to regain their focus. He'd been pumping his chakra through them, if Kakashi's senses were working correctly.

"Sorry I'm late. You see, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way to get here," the silver haired Jounin offered. Naruto chortled, Sasuki frowned and raised an eyebrow, and Sakura just looked pissed. "Well, on to today's training exercise. What you are about to take is the _real_ Genin test," he said, suddenly becoming serious.

Naruto went wide-eyed, as did Sasuki. "What do you mean the real Genin test? Didn't we pass that already? I thought we were already Shinobi," Sakura cried out. Kakashi closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Let me explain," he started, "What you passed was the Academy's graduation standards. However, as your assigned Jounin instructor, I am the one to approve or decline taking you as my students. This was started to prevent cheating in the exams, seeing as I am given free rein to perform any test I want in order to analyze your Shinobi skills. Today, I will be assessing you on the three primary categories of Shinobi skills – Nin, Gen, and Taijutsu – using these." He reached into his pocket and held up two bells attached to red string.

"You will be using your knowledge and skills in order to retrieve these bells from my person. If you wish to succeed, you need to come at me with the intention of killing me. This means jutsu, weapons, and traps are all allowed. If you don't come at me with all your heart in it, you will fail."

Sakura was the first to speak up. "But sensei, if there are only two bells and three of us just how exactly are we all supposed to pass?" she inquired. Kakashi smiled, the facial expression given away by his eye transforming into the typical upside-down "U."

"That's the fun part. You see, this specific test weeds out the weak link of a team, allowing space for the new teams to prosper. The loser of this exam will be sent back to the Academy for another year's training, and a replacement for them will be found in either a Chunin training for his Jounin exams or by an early graduate from the Academy." He replied.

Naruto's jaw dropped so far he could swear it hit the ground. "What!? I am _not_ going back to the Academy for another year!" He shouted.

"Then you'll pass my test, won't you?" Kakashi replied curtly. Naruto nodded ever-so slightly. "Good then. You have until this alarm rings," Kakashi stated, placing a clock on the ground. "On your marks, get set, go."

Naruto charged, only to be lost in a puff of white smoke. Kakashi had used Shunshin again. "Well this blows," he said aloud as the dust cleared. Sakura threw out a fist, slamming it into the face of the blonde who had been blinded by smoke.

"You idiot! How are we supposed to work as a team, when doing that only gets one of us sent back to the Academy!?" She shouted angrily, cracking her knuckles and preparing for another punch. When she threw this one, Naruto blocked, moving into her personal bubble rather quickly.

"Hitting me isn't helping this _team_ work any better, either," he said, obviously miffed at something, whether it was her or Kakashi Sakura didn't know. "Now, obviously this is a trick to pit us against each other. I mean, come on, what kind of a cruel and unusual test is it for someone to pit a Jounin against a Genin team who can't even work together because they're too concerned with their own status as Shinobi?" Naruto reasoned

"That doesn't change the fact that there are only two bells! What are we gonna do if this ends up being a real test? I don't want to go back to the academy for another year!" Sakura argued. The blonde thought for a moment. He glanced at Sakura, her eyes desperate for a solution.

Then his eyes turned to Sasuki, who represented all he ever wanted as a Shinobi. With her he had respect, someone that cared about him, a strong piece of ground to stand on in the violent storm of hatred that surrounded him. He had his solution.

"If…and I mean only if it turns out this is the real test…I'll give you two the bells," he said with a smirk. Sasuki gasped, her eyes wide. Why would he do this? Becoming a ninja was his dream, and he'd vowed he wouldn't let anything get in the way of that. This didn't make any sense at all.

"Naruto-kun, don't," she tried. There was no way she could let him do this. His smirked widened and he placed a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder. His eyes had a determination behind them that, although masked by a small amount of sadness, she knew she couldn't beat. "Don't do this. This is your dream," she warned, but he didn't care.

"My dream is to become the Hokage. I can do that anytime. This is important to the two of you. You're an Uchiha, Sasuki-chan. I have no doubt you'll pass the test. But Sakura," he turned to the pinkette, "you still have something to prove. No one expected me to pass from the start. I can afford this failure like I did all the rest. If I can save you from another year of Iruka-sensei's lectures and give you this opportunity…well…I care about you enough to do it. So what do you say? We do this as a team?"

Sakura stopped for a second, pondering the blonde's statement. Her position slowly relaxed from one of anger and fear to one of relaxation, and her eyes might have shown a sign of surprise, then a little remorse. He cared about her? Since when? She had a rising suspicion that he was lying. However, she agreed to go along with whatever half-baked scheme Naruto had planned out. To her surprise, the idea had spent a bit longer baking than was expected.

* * *

Kakashi was crouching down in the middle of an empty field, his favorite orange book open and perverse giggles coming from his throat. It had been hours since he'd left the Genin alone. A part of him wondered if they'd just given up on finding him, but he knew that wasn't the case. They just might have been planning something.

A rustle in the bushes caught his attention, and in a flash of black and orange Naruto launched his attack. A solid, flying jab aimed at the silver haired Jounin's face was followed by a sweeping roundhouse kick aimed at his knee.

Kakashi lifted one hand, catching Naruto's fist easily. He jumped to avoid the kick, still keeping his book open. "You can't fight like that, Hatake-sensei. No matter how much of a perv you are I'd prefer you at least pretend to take me seriously," Naruto said. Kakashi shook his head.

"But I'm almost to the good part, and what fun would fighting you with be unless I have something to distract me from your sloppy form?" the Jounin mocked. Naruto sighed, knowing he would lose this argument. He put his hands in the cross seal, forming five Kage Bunshin. They all charged.

The clones themselves served as a slight distraction for Kakashi, at times he even had to look away from the page to see where the attack would land. They punched, kicked, grabbed, and at times slashed at Kakashi, going all out. The Cyclops, however, was jumping about, using the Kawarimi with one of Naruto's clone at one point and at the same time used a henge to take on Naruto's appearance.

Naruto chuckled. "Now how are you going to read your book that way?" he asked, looking around. There were six clones in the group, not including himself. Suddenly, his eyes stung slightly, like he had soapy water in them, and everything tinted deep blue again. Looks like those chakra exercises he was doing with his eyes before the test had paid off. "There we go," he said with a smirk.

The good thing about being able to see Tenketsu with his Fuuingan was everyone's were located in different places. The clones had his Tenketsu, whereas Kakashi's were located in different areas. It was right there in front of him in bright orange, plain as day, who the fraud was. Not only that, but only one clone in the group wore what appeared to be gravity and Chakra Inhibitor seals. He memorized the pattern as rapidly as possible, then grinned.

"And there you are!" he shouted, charging at his transformed Sensei. Kakashi's eyes narrowed, taking notice of the deep blue hue that Naruto's eyes had taken on.

He undid his transformation, and the resulting plume of smoke hid the action from Sakura and Sasuki, who were safely hidden in the trees, waiting for Naruto's signal. The smoke cleared, revealing the blonde flat on his back with Kakashi standing over him. "Really, did you think rushing me head-on was going to work? You have a lot to learn about stealth if you want to become a ninja…still, I'd say you understand the first category of testing fairly well. Taijutsu, that is."

Naruto tried to suppress the chuckle that came. "Taijutsu is more Sasuki-chan's thing. I was always better at Ninjutsu myself," He remarked. Kakashi's one visible eyebrow raised as the blonde brought a hand with the thumbs up sign into the air, then slowly rotated it down. "You lose, Hatake-sensei."

The next thing Kakashi was aware of was the slight whirling sound coming from all directions. He hit the ground as scores of shuriken and kunai came at him from all directions. Before he could register the first attack, flames erupted in streams, following the ninja wire that had been attached to the weapons. "By the way, I'm a clone," Naruto grinned as the flames hit.

* * *

'_These kids are Genin?'_ Kakashi thought, dashing through the forest at top speed. He'd barely had time to dodge the flames. One thing was for sure, they had surprised him with that last trick. He might have had to use a Suiton technique if that Naruto clone hadn't revealed his origins at the last minute. How could anyone put themselves in that kind of danger, anyways? He'd let his guard down and allowed himself to make that error in judgment.

They wouldn't catch him off guard again. He'd underestimated them, and that was a mistake. He put his book away and sighed. _"They may have already passed my test. I wonder if they really can get the bells. I put on a couple chakra seals before so as to make it easier for them, but I may have put on one too many."_

It was common practice in tests like this to use gravity and chakra seals. Otherwise it would be far too difficult for the students to pass.

"Oi, Hatake-sensei, thinking about taking off a few of those seals and treating us like a real threat? If you don't, you'll be sorry," Naruto said, suddenly appearing from nowhere. His blonde form appeared about fifteen feet away from Kakashi with an arrogant grin across his face.

"Interesting, it seems you've unlocked a bit more of your…"

There was a momentary pause as Kakashi searched for Sasuki and Sakura's chakras, "…Father's knack for seals."

"Yeah, but the damn thing shut off after that little inferno trick. I was hoping it could change things around in my favor a bit, but I guess that was hoping for too much. By my count we've already covered Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, what with that weapons display and Sasuki-chan's awesome fireball back there. It seems all that's left on your test requirement is Genjutsu, and I think you can tell that I'm not all that fantastic at it," Naruto said.

"So, I was thinking," the blonde started just before Sasuki and Sakura burst from the thicket, effectively surrounding the Jounin.

"Why don't we just skip this last part and get to the end of this test," he finished. Sakura remained at the back of the group, trying to analyze the situation in case Kakashi decided to bail again as Naruto and Sasuki stepped forwards.

"Very well, however, I'll have to warn you," he began. His hand rose to his Hitai-ate, revealing his Sharingan eye. If he was going in there with ten percent of his usual chakra and a seal combination that made movement twice as difficult as usual, he'd need every advantage he could get. "That option makes things more difficult."

Sakura gasped, staring at the scar that resided on his face, as well as the red hue of his iris. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked in shock. Naruto nodded firmly, gazing seriously at the man. He frowned. This wasn't part of the plan.

"The Sharingan, it's one of the most powerful Doujutsu in the Shinobi world. The Uchiha held this eye dear above all else as their pride, their honor, the one thing that made them who they were. I'm not sure exactly how he got it, but there's the occasional rumor," Naruto said grimly. The sight of the silver-haired Jounin's Doujutsu set off his own. "Sasuki-chan, get ready. This'll be tough."

Sasuki nodded, drawing a kunai. Naruto dashed in, dodging the strike Kakashi made at him. Their movements were odd, the predictions that they received from their eyes caused them to make moves to dodge before the attack had even been launched. "How is he…what is he…is Naruto fighting _on par_ with Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked silently.

Sasuki came in with a vicious slash of her kunai, which Kakashi dodged. What happened next was impressive, and insane, even for the standards Sakura had recently re-set. Kakashi dodged the slashes from Sasuki so precisely that he ended up with cuts along the seals he placed upon himself. His chakra suddenly flared, and he charged, kneeing Naruto in the stomach with untold force. The blonde went flying and crashed into a nearby tree, his form going limp.

Sakura's eyes widened in concern, as did Sasuki's. There was a momentary pause in all movement. "I think I may have let one more seal go than I needed to," he said, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Shannaro!" Sakura screamed, her fist impacting Kakashi directly with a rage Naruto would think she'd only reserved for him, sending the silver haired Jounin back a good few feet. In the distraction, Sasuki reached desperately for the bells, only to find them absent from his side. Kakashi looked down, his one eye showing obvious confusion. Then, he looked over to Naruto. Despite laying on the ground in pain, he grinned widely.

"I…win…Hatake-sensei," he chuckled. He unclenched his fist, revealing the singular ribbon with two bells attached to it. Sasuki was enamored, staring at the blonde in awe. He'd grabbed them while taking that knee to the gut. "If there's one thing I learned growing up on the streets of this place, it's how to pick a good pocket," he cackled in his mirth, quickly clutching his stomach in pain.

* * *

"So tell me again how it is I wound up tied to this God-forsaken log?" Naruto asked. He thought he'd performed well, but he was still punished. It was terrible. Kakashi had literally _dragged_ him through the forest back to the centralized area where he was almost immediately tied to a post.

"Hey, you're the one who gave Sasuki and me the bells. Kakashi-sensei said that whoever didn't get a bell was tied to the log and didn't get lunch. You should be happy we all passed," Sakura retorted. The blonde's incessant complaining was wearing her nerves thin. "That's what you get for being the nice guy, I guess."

Naruto blanched. He had been so self-sacrificing that he'd ended up in this position. "Sometimes I think he's just messing with me," he said with a frown. Sasuki crouched down in front of him, smiling.

"Just consider it a job well done and be done with it. We'll be back after lunch, don't worry, we'll bring you back the leftovers," she said. Naruto nodded.

"Well then, we'll be off. I was thinking we stop by this quaint little place called Ichiraku's for lunch, does that sound alright?" Kakashi said. Naruto's vigor redoubled as he began to squirm against the rope.

"**Hatake-sensei, you bastard! You know how much I love ramen! Get back here and untie me! Your Icha-Icha books are burning for this, you hear me?! BURNING! There's gonna be one massive fire and I'll tie you down to this damn log and make you watch it as I tear each individual page out and slowly turn your whole collection to ashes!"**

The blonde's promises to make sure Kakashi never laid eyes on another piece of smut for as long as he lived arrived to absent ears, making it impossible for their severity to be comprehended. Hours passed, the moon rose in the sky. Eventually Kakashi arrived to find a sleeping Naruto, still tied down to the post, but by far less ropes than he was left with.

"Geez, one more and he would have been able to break free. I don't want to find out what he would have done. You know what, I think I'll just leave him here for tomorrow."

"Do it and your book gets turned to ash." Naruto threatened, suddenly awake and still ticked. Kakashi quickly cut the last rope before using a Shunshin and disappearing. Naruto picked himself up, brushed off the dirt and dashed towards home. "I really think he's picking on me…Dad, if you have any influence over him, please make his life _very_ hard," Naruto begged towards the Hokage monument before shoving his hands in his pockets and heading back home.


	7. Travel

**Last Edit: 六月二十五日２０１３**

* * *

"You know, I'm still mad at all of you," Naruto grumbled as he and his team walked down to the Hokage Tower to receive their first mission.

"And I swear that one day, maybe not one day soon, but one day, I _will_ have my revenge!"

Unfortunately, not even the aspect of his first paying job as a Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato could lighten the blonde's mood. Kakashi, who was leading the group, was a little glad that Naruto couldn't see the amused expression on his face while his back was turned to the boy. Even if it wasn't, so long as he kept his one visible eye from showing any sort of emotion, Naruto wouldn't have noticed the amused smirk under the Jounin's mask.

"Naruto, believe us, Kakashi-sensei promised he'd rush right to the training grounds to untie you," Sakura stated defensively. She was shocked when she'd heard the blonde's story, as well as Kakashi's weak defense of 'it wasn't that late. The moon was still high in the sky.' She'd apologized like a good teammate would, seeing as she was trying her best to stay on neutral terms with Naruto now that they had to spend large portions of their time together. "We even made sure he had a bowl with him for you. It's not our fault you can't trust his punctuality."

Sasuki had actually found the story rather amusing, a sly smirk still coated her face from its telling. Of course, the whole premise of tying Naruto to a log was funny to her. It was surprising how communication between the two had become so easy since yesterday. There was no tension, no stress, almost nothing but the enjoyment of one another's company, even if there weren't many words to express that fact.

Naruto ended his pouting when he walked through the door of the Hokage's office. He somehow seemed more official in appearance as he did so. It was strange.

The Sandaime glanced at him and smiled, sending off Asuma and his team, congratulating them on a job well done. One particular member of the group walked up to Sakura. Yamanaka Ino.

"Sakura、 look, my first payment! It's not much, given that we had to split it four ways, but it's still money!" The platinum blonde gushed. She and Sakura both giggled, enjoying the moment with one another as they began to talk about all the things that the Yamanaka could buy with the money.

"You better hurry, though. I hear there's this one really bad mission that keeps getting thrown in for some reason. You have to dodge it before-" Ino had no chance to finish her warning before the door swung open and a hefty woman came rushing in.

"Sandaime-sama, my cute little Tora has gone missing again! Please, you have to find him, you just have to!" the woman cried. If Naruto wasn't mistaken, a bit of discomfort crossed Sarutobi's face before he nodded in confirmation, assuring her that the very next mission assigned would be to retrieve her cat.

Subsequently, he turned to face Kakashi. "Hatake-san. You're team's first mission will be to recover the pet cat of the Fire Daimyo's wife. His name is Tora, and he has a habit of running away during their daily walk through the forest to the northwest of here. See if your Genin can find him," he ordered. Kakashi nodded firmly, taking the opportunity to lead the two teams out of the office, thus saving them from further encounter with the woman.

"I have a feeling this is the mission you were talking about, Ino," Sakura said, slouching in disappointment. Ino merely chuckled.

"Who knows, Billboard Brow, maybe you'll have fun. You'll surely be doing it a lot if you keep showing up as late as you did today," the blonde teased, much to Sakura's dismay and anger. Ino hadn't called her Billboard Brow in months. Well, if she thought that Sakura didn't remember her little nickname, she was sadly mistaken. She would never let herself lose to Ino.

"Well, Ino-pig, I bet you I'll be doing higher ranked missions than you soon enough," she bragged. Ino guffawed at the statement.

"Not with Naruto-baka on your team, you won't be. Sure, you've got Sasuki because of it, but with _him_ dragging you down, there's no way you're making any progress," Ino remarked. Naruto visibly scowled, tilting his head down and hiding his eyes with his bangs. Sasuki looked like she was about to say something, but Sakura beat her to the punch.

"You listen here, Ino-pig. If it weren't for Naruto, I probably wouldn't even be on this team today. So the next time you get ready to insult him, think about how you'd want to be treated by him, alright?" Sakura's finger was pointed accusingly at Ino, and was a little too close for comfort. Ino was awed by the outburst, nodding slightly and walking away with Shikamaru and Chouji soon to follow.

Naruto laughed, throwing up a hand. "See ya later Shika. You too, Chouji," he called. His eyes then turned to Sakura, staring at her with a mix of what she thought to be happiness and a lot of respect. Oddly, she kind of liked it. "Thanks for that, Sakura," he said with a genuine smile.

"It really wasn't all that big of a deal," Sakura replied, flushing from embarrassment and looking away. "Just don't expect me to do it again. I only owed you for getting me thought Kakashi-sensei's exam." Her tone had turned hostile towards the end, leaving the blonde grinning in his typical cheesy fashion. Sakura rolled her eyes, trying to focus on the mission at hand. It was a big deal, after all. Their first mission was for the Fire Daimyo's wife.

* * *

"You are an _evil _cat," Naruto scowled, bright red scratch marks coating his face from Tora's vicious claws. He had taken the responsibility of holding the cat, as he was the one to leap upon the small animal and successfully capture it after taking quite a few scratches to the face.

"Oh, quit your whining and man up," Sasuki said. Naruto looked over at her with a quirked eyebrow, revealing the bright red lines that coated his face from where the cat's paws had raked against his face, to which Sasuki had to resist the urge to burst out laughing. The only time his face had looked close to that funny was when he'd shown her what he wanted his picture on his Shinobi License to look like.

"All I'm saying is the pay for this better be good," the blonde replied. Again, when Naruto entered the Hokage's office, all prior arguments and pouting ceased to matter. He stood straight, ignoring the scratches on his face. Sasuki and Sakura both noticed this, making a mental note to ask just what this newfound habit was about.

"Hokage-sama, we retrieved the target with next to no difficulties. I'm sure the client will be happy to have him back," Kakashi reported. As always, Kakashi spoke much more formally to his aged leader. It was likely a sign of respect as well as pure habit due to his many years as a ninja. After all, the politeness in one's speech towards their superiors was essential for amounting to anything in the ninja world.

The Sandaime nodded approvingly in response to this, glad that the team he'd decided to put Naruto on was panning out well. Of course, Sasuki was also a primary concern for the old man, but no case of misfortune hit quite as close to home for the Hokage than the story of Naruto.

"Very well, here is payment for the three of you," he said, opening a small drawer in his desk and removing three of the small stacks of bills from the drawer, each held together with a small across the table. "Kakashi-kun, as usual your pay has been forwarded to your account."

The silver haired man nodded. "Well it looks like I'm shipping out, then. I'll catch you three later," the white haired man said, giving a two fingered salute before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto took his stack, running his fingers through the top as he flipped through the bills. His eyes went as wide as dinner plates and he glanced up doubtfully at Sarutobi, who simply nodded.

"That's your cut, Naruto-kun. No more, no less," the Hokage said firmly. Naruto's eyes filled up with wonderment. Finally, the calm demeanor he'd held since he walked into the office fell to pieces of the floor. He pumped a fist in the air with a mighty shout of "Hell yeah! So worth it!"

Sasuki chuckled lightly at how easily Naruto had become excited. Judging by the weight of the bills it couldn't be that much. Then again, she had a trust fund set up by the civilian council based off her family's fortune. All Naruto got was a fraction of a percent of the tax dollars collected from missions, tariffs on imports, and the like. He must have been happy about getting the bonus. After all, who knew how many bills that just that relatively small amount of money could pay for?

"Alright everyone, ramen's on me today!" the blonde proclaimed, marching out of the office triumphantly. His female teammates exited shortly after him, bowing to Sarutobi before they left. The old man smiled at the antics of the young blonde. It was his personal opinion that the boy had a good heart, and would grow up to be an excellent Shinobi. Still, there was the matter of that small crush he likely had on the Uchiha girl.

Really, the situation wasn't the most prevalent thing to Sarutobi given the ongoing rough political relationship that Konoha had with Suna needing more attention than a newborn at three in the morning. Sometimes he found himself wishing that he could just solve all his problems the way he had when he was just another Jounin; swing down Enma first, ask questions later. However, politics was the way he needed to go if he wanted to prevent the loss of lives. What was it that they called it? A necessary evil?

With a brief sigh, the old man looked back at the small stack of papers to his right, picked up his favorite pen, and picked up where he'd left off.

* * *

Days flew by that turned into weeks, which eventually evolved into months as Team Seven continued to improve. Training sessions followed a relatively simple regularity in a few aspects. Naruto would often work on Taijutsu with Sasuki as his clones were sent to work refining their skills in exercises similar to tree climbing and water walking. Sakura would sometimes interject into the matches to test her mettle against either of the two, and whoever wasn't busy in that group would go off and see Kakashi.

As it stood, Naruto and Sasuki preferred training together. Sakura understood that, seeing as they had become close friends lately, but she felt a little left out when a majority of the individual training time was spent with Kakashi. Sure, he was a great tutor who was knowledgeable in the academy's basic style, but was that really going to be enough? Even the Taijutsu instructors in the academy had said that it was a good idea to practice more than one style, and that the academy style was a very basic skill set. What did that even mean?

The question continued to fester in the back of her mind until she decided that right after the mission they were going on that day was over, she'd ask Kakashi-sensei for his help. However, what she hadn't counted on was Naruto's formal demeanor he typically kept during his interactions with the Hokage to come crumbling down.

"Hokage-ojiisan, when are we going to get something more challenging than these menial D-rank missions? I'm starting to wonder exactly what community service has to do with being a Shinobi in the first place," the blonde said firmly as they returned from capturing Tora yet again. It may have been impatience due to the nature of the mission and the angry red marks across his face, but it wasn't like capturing Tora was the only mission available to them. They didn't even have to do it this time. It had been a long day of picking weeds from gardens, washing the Hokage monument, cleaning the litter from a waterfall, and other tasks. They'd decided to take this mission unanimously as they all wanted the work.

Still, in spite of all this, Naruto stood straight with his arms crossed in defiance of the scratch marks from Tora. Thankfully he'd waited until the Daimyo's wife had left to bring this up. Sakura didn't think she could handle the shame of her team mate coming so close to actively disrespecting authority. Didn't he know how missions worked?

"Naruto-kun, you know that Genin are allowed to take on D-rank missions, and upon gaining enough experience can move up to the occasional C-rank, perhaps. It is only upon becoming a Chunin that you may take on more dangerous tasks at your discretion. As a Genin of Konoha, it is your primary goal to become stronger through these D-rank missions. Not only that, but to show that the ninja of Konoha care about their citizens. With time, I'm certain that you'll prove ready for the next level, but for now I ask that you be patient with me" the Hokage explained.

Naruto's glance hardened and he opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't find the words at first. After a minute or two, a smirk appeared on his face. "Hokage-Ojii, as one of your shinobi I'm asking you this for the sake of my dignity. While I understand that training with Hatake-sensei and my team is good for chakra building and teamwork, and that D-rank missions build upon my physical strength and knowledge of how to use my body, isn't all this work we've done as a team worthy of something a little more worthwhile? We need experience on the field, and we're never going to get it with lame community service projects."

Sakura thought that a good primary course of action in this situation would be to beat the blonde across the head with a left hook, but the way he was keeping his head in all of this and was at least maintaining a respectful façade made her reconsider. Instead, the scolding would be purely verbal this time.

"Naruto-baka! Hokage-sama already told you to be patient, so listen to him!" she reprimanded. Naruto smirked, rubbing the back of his head in an innocent fashion, almost as if she'd actually decked him.

Kakashi would have considered offering up some form of apology if the situation were any less tame. Still, a brief comment on their behavior was probably called for. "I see we still need to work a little on teamwork. Now, if you'd like to stop embarrassing yourselves in front of the Hokage, I'm sure we can be on our way?"

Both Naruto and Sakura looked up at the obviously smiling Jounin with frustration. However, the reaction from the Hokage was not exactly what one would expect. He chuckled, shuffling through a few papers.

"Nonsense, Kakashi, anyone who can put enough brains into Naruto-kun to allow him that kind of an argument, and train a kunoichi to be intimidating enough to silence the boy is doing an excellent job of creating team dynamic. In fact, I'm considering approving of Naruto's request for a bit more challenging work."

The old man paused, shuffling through a few more papers as Naruto's expression brightened instantly. Sakura was also showing signs of excitement while Sasuki was genuinely surprised at the results of the situation, though was doing her best to cover it.

Finally, Sarutobi lifted the document he was looking for, snapping the paper straight in his hand with a victorious smirk. "And it seems I have just the mission for the job. You'll be escorting a bridge builder to the Land of Waves and supervising him as he finishes. I don't see this taking any more than three weeks, so please try to be back by then."

Naruto's eyes brightened and he jumped, pumping a fist into the air. "Yatta!" he proclaimed. Sasuki smirked slightly, and even though Sakura had been against the blonde's actions, she too was excited. Finally they could prove themselves as shinobi of Konohagakure. The Hokage chuckled again, reading through the file.

"Yes, I'll call your client. Come back at around noon for introductions and briefing. Until then, you are all dismissed. Your pay has been sent directly into your new accounts," Sarutobi stated. Team Seven filed out the door, each excited in their own way. Naruto was proud to be taking on something a bit more challenging. Plus, there was travel involved. He'd never been outside the village, which meant that this would be the first in what he hoped would be a long series of adventures. Sasuki was excited simply because this mission would mark her as serious about being a kunoichi, and Sakura…she didn't know why she was excited. Maybe it was because of earning the Hokage's trust, or maybe she could just rub this in Ino's face. Either way, she was happy.

"Well Team Seven," Kakashi said as they walked out of the Hokage's mansion, "we'll meet back at the training grounds at 11:45 to head back here and receive our briefing and meet our client. That gives us about an hour to prepare for the mission. So…see ya then," Kakashi said, disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Once again Sakura left with barely a goodbye, and Naruto and Sasuki were alone. "So, our first C-rank mission, you must be pretty excited," Sasuki commented. Naruto nodded, looking up to the sky.

"It's not the rank that matters, Sasuki. What does matter is that this is my next step towards becoming Hokage. But yeah, I pretty much have everything packed already," he smirked, opening his backpack to reveal several sealing scrolls that probably contained food, tents, weapons and who knew what else. "I've been waiting for today for a long time, got a lot of practice with seals, too. I have a few tricks up my sleeve," the blonde said with a smirk.

Sasuki smirked, "I'm sure you do, Naruto. However, I don't think you'll be needing them. C-rank missions don't mean fighting anyone. Though, I suppose if we run into any wild cats out there you'll be able to save us," at her slight joke her smirk grew to an arrogant grin.

"I'm telling you, that cat is possessed! That or it's escaped so many times that it's learned how to avoid shinobi! Those are the only two explanations! Either way, it's no ordinary house cat!" he cried, trying to defend himself. Tora was rather rambunctious, after all.

"I'm sure you're right," Sasuki replied mockingly, "And one day it will pick up a kunai and throw it at you," she rolled her eyes, and began to walk away, only to be chased by Naruto.

"You want any help packing?" he asked calmly. Sasuki looked over to see his wild smirk, eyes a deep navy with two white tomoe as well as a singular ring of white circling his pupil. Something told her this was going to be an easy packing job.

An hour of shopping, three sealing scrolls, and one sparring match later, Naruto and Sasuki were walking over to the Hokage tower to meet up with Kakashi and Sakura. "You know, you didn't have to throw gravity seals on me. I'm fine with weighted training," Sasuki mumbled. How was it possible that these tiny pieces of paper with a weak adhesive attached to her body made the act of moving - breathing even - so much harder?

"Sasuki-chan, you know this is more convenient. Your opponent isn't going to wait for you to take your leg weights off in the middle of a battle. This way, all you have to do is make the ram sign, put chakra in them and say 'kai.' Much quicker," the blonde replied. He'd put them on her for her own good. If she constantly wore them, her reaction time, strength, and speed would all increase, and maybe even her endurance too when she didn't have a constant weight holding her back.

Regardless, their conversation came to a close when they met up with Sakura and Kakashi, who surprisingly wasn't late to the rendezvous. With a firm knock on Sarutobi's door, they were let in to be met with a drunken old man.

"These are the wet behind the ears kids that are supposed to be protecting me? I thought C-rank missions were for real ninja, not short kids in blaring orange pants," the graying man commented roughly. Naruto frowned, disappearing only to come back into existence behind his verbal abuser.

"Care to say anything else, or should I cut you to ribbons with a kunai next time?" the blonde said with an animalistic grit in his tone, "Don't insult the orange, people who insult the orange end up dead."

Sasuki and reluctantly Sakura chortled at this, even the Hokage had a bit of a twinkle in his eye. They knew that Naruto wasn't being serious at all. He had no weapons drawn, and not the slightest hint of killing intent behind his actions. Heck, with the smile on his face he was more likely to start tickling the man than cause any sort of harm.

"Trust me, Tazuna-san. You're entirely safe with Team Seven. After all, it's not like there's any impending doom about, is there?" Sarutobi asked sarcastically.

Tazuna was silent for a moment before nodding. "Guess you're right. They should do," he grumbled. Sarutobi smiled, sending the group away without any further warning towards the village gates.

* * *

When they arrived at the giant arch, Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuki were all quick to exit. However, Naruto seemed to be glued in place when he was just inches out the door. The group looked back inquisitively, especially Tazuna. "What's with the brat?"

"**Naruto-baka! Get your butt in gear before I kick it all the way to Wave!**_**" **_Sakura called. The blonde quickly caught up, only to be met with another string of words from his pink haired team mate. "Seriously, what are you thinking? We're on a mission, we don't have time to stop and daydream every five seconds. Get your head in the game and focus."

Naruto let out a small sigh, contemplating his next words. "It's just that I've never really been outside the village before," he replied, scratching the back of his head. Sakura frowned. That was right, he'd never gone on the academy field trips or camped out with family, seeing he never had any. She remembered her first experience outside these gates as a student. She was so focused on the male portion of her classmates that she barely learned anything. She had no right to talk if he wanted to take in these sites for the first time.

"Oh, sorry," was all she said before becoming silent again. Tazuna snorted at this, apparently he still thought it was funny how inexperienced they were. Naruto let out another growl at the man, who winced slightly.

They continued along the path for a good chunk of time, though without checking his nonexistent watch, Naruto wouldn't know exactly how much. It had to have been at least a few hours by now.

Something strange caught Naruto's eye. Why would there be a puddle in the middle of a road when it hadn't rained for days? In fact, it had been rather warm and dry. His eyes snapped open as she realized what it was. He opened his mouth to warn the others, but before that could happen Kakashi had been surrounded by spiked chains.

"**Hatake-sensei!"** Naruto cried as the chains tightened furiously around him, severing his body into three segments. Something inside the boy snapped, a burning heat rushing to his head as he felt his eyes narrow and his mouth turn into a snarling frown. He'd find whoever did this, and he'd tear them limb from limb.

Moments later, two masked men who were probably brothers judging by the clawed gloves that connected them together emerged from the thicket, chuckling to themselves as they looked at the segmented carcass of the Cyclops Jounin.

"Well, that about finishes him off. What do you think, Meizu?" the first one spoke as he flexed his right hand in what could probably be attributed to a habitual sign of victory.

"Careful, Gouzu," the other replied, "he was a ninja, too. Gotta make sure that this isn't some wild trick before we let our guard down. Who knows, he might be waiting in the bushes for an opportunity to finish us off."

"Will you can it with the paranoia? We killed him, he's dead, there's blood everywhere. Why can't you just be happy about it for once?"

While the brotherly bickering continued, Naruto found himself at an emotional impasse. The anger he was feeling now was allowing the seal quite a bit of room to pump demonic chakra into his system, but at the same time he knew that releasing it now would alert Sakura to the fact that something was wrong, and at the same time he knew that giving in would only put Sasuki in more danger than was necessary.

Still, he needed to act now while they weren't planning a secondary strike on his team if he wanted to complete the mission. The mission, of course, was very different now. They needed to get back to Konoha alive with Kakashi's body. Even if he was dead, he probably held who knew how many village secrets in his chakra system, especially with that Sharingan eye of his.

"**Sakura, Sasuki, protect Tazuna. I'll handle these sons of bitches,**" the blonde's voice had taken on a more feral intonation due to the rage and demonic chakra fueling his body. Still, even with the piercing red eyes, the two opponents in front of him could only laugh as he cracked his knuckles harshly.

"You're going to 'handle' us? Who the hell do you think we are, kid?" the one named Gouzu asked as he dropped into a fighting stance, his companion doing the same, though a little more reluctantly. "We're the damn Demon Bro…"

Naruto was gone in a flash, one fist connecting brutally with the Gouzu's solar plexus. The two jumped back, forced away by the thick concentration of bloodlust in this new chakra Naruto had drawn upon.

"A gutsy move attacking us head on, brat. However, you'll soon learn your mistake," Meizu seethed. They charged again, the chain becoming a blur as it launched towards Naruto. Sasuki was already moving towards him, but suddenly stopped when he ducked underneath the weapon that had killed their sensei. With a quick hand seal, sixteen shadow clones appeared in midair, throwing shuriken and kunai at the chain links, pinning them to a nearby group of trees. The weapons sunk deep, splintering some of the bark in the wood.

Their movement had been successfully restricted, and Naruto calmed. He inched towards one of them slowly, a kunai drawn and by the look in his eye, it wasn't that hard to tell what he was going to use it for. "Hatake-sensei may have been a total jerk, but he was a good teacher. He could have shown us everything we needed to know as shinobi, and you took that away."

He was barely speaking as he drew closer, the air rich with killing intent that made Sakura's knees shake. Sasuki was amazed that he had this much bloodlust in him. Sure she'd been trained to deal with her opponent leveling a certain amount of aggression at her, but that was nowhere near this level, even from her peripheral position to the origin. She could only imagine what kind of torture it must be for the receiving end of this.

A harsh hydraulic release sounded, hissing through the air as the shuriken chain attaching Gouzu to Meizu detached from the two men. Gouzu was instantly on the offensive, moving fast enough to catch Naruto with a slash to the cheek, though he'd been aiming for the eyes, as he ran to escape and put distance between himself and the blonde.

"What the hell are you!?" Gouzu cried, brandishing two handfuls of shuriken and letting them loose. He'd nearly pissed his pants with all that killing intent that the boy was letting loose, and all because he'd killed the white haired guy? Was it really the best move to go after the older ninja first? They could have easily gone after the bridge builder. Hell, even this kid seemed like a worthy target for the first kill now.

The blonde seethed at Gouzu's statement and the flying shurken, lifting his kunai as he charged. He was knocking the flying metal stars out of the air with practiced ease as he closed the gap between him and Gouzu, orange sparks shooting off the knife as it made contact with each projectile.

When Naruto was within fifteen feet of Gouzu, he suddenly vanished. The black haired man whipped his head left and right in a desperate search for the blonde. There was only one problem; he was finding several.

In a word, the beating was brutal. The attacker just couldn't get in any blows, and compared to the two that Naruto seemed to be getting for every attempted attack from the man, it could hardly be called a fair fight. It all came to an end when the clawed man charged and Naruto palmed the strike to the side, using his free hand to grip the man by the throat.

"You know, most ninja would know that they were covered in seals at this point," the blonde stated. Gouzu's expression paled as he looked down, finding his cloak covered with small rectangular sheets of white paper with identical black markings inked into them. Looking back up to the blonde, Gouzu realized that his irises had shifted from the bloodthirsty red to a deep blue color with white markings. Of course, that was the last thing he realized before the seals kicked in.

Naruto released the man, only to see him cry in pain as his body was crushed by some kind of invisible weight. "Then again, any decent ninja wouldn't let their opponent put forty seals that double gravity on them either. With eighty times your own body weight crushing you, I'd say it'll be another few seconds before your bones start to break."

Luckily for Gouzu, Naruto wasn't the type to kill for no reason. Another blink of the blonde's eyes released the seals and Gouzu fell to the ground, completely unconscious. Naruto dusted off his hands with an accomplished look on his face. Now, all he had to do was tie this guy up to the tree next to him and check to make sure Sasuki was doing alright.

There was a burst of flames behind him, the change in air pressure blowing his hair around wildly as Meizu flew past him, avoiding a collision with Naruto by barely an inch and landing right next to his brother. "**That's what you get for trying to cop a fell, you asshole!"** a rather angry looking Sasuki screamed, eyes wide and body trembling. Naruto burst out into laughter, only to have the anger of the raven haired female turn to him. Needless to say, he stifled his laughter after that.

"Don't laugh!" Sasuki yelled. That bastard had the gall to call her flat-chested, and then spent the entire duration of the fight trying to land a palm strike to her chest. An Uchiha would not tolerate such blatant perversion on behalf of their opponents.

Naruto turned, smirking at her with that devilish little grin of his. They were by no means telepathic, but Sasuki got the distinct feeling that he was thinking something along the lines of '_Sorry, but it's hardly your personality to be reacting like this.'_

"You idiot," she sighed, looking away from him. Coincidentally, her gaze fell upon the area where Kakashi's body should have been. However, what she saw was not a pool of blood and the body of her teacher, but instead a thin branch of a tree that had been snapped in three pieces. "That crazy…person…used a Kawarimi!" she exclaimed, stumbling over her words to try to regain her typical composure. Naruto looked over, amused in her choice of words, but still nodding in confirmation.

He quickly got to work tying up the Gouzu and Meizu, and when he finished he stood up and brushed the dirt off his hands. "Well, I suppose since Hatake-sensei obviously got scared and ran away, we should just continue the mission," Naruto said in an exaggerated tone, "after all, a sensei that leaves his students behind is _worse than trash_."

The minor quote summoned their silver haired sensei from the nearby thicket. The blonde smirked as he joined their ranks with his orange book in hand. "Sorry," the man replied, "I was just getting to a good part of the story, and I knew you three had this handled."

Sakura had remained silent throughout the entire course of the battle. For one, she had no idea Naruto could be so forceful. Then again, she wasn't aware that his first instinct in a fight would be the right one, or that he had the power to take on these kinds of opponents, or countless other things he'd just done. "What the hell was _that_?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands out in front in confusion.

Naruto turned, a smirk coating his face. "Deception," he said slyly before turning around and continuing beginning to walk.

"Naruto, wait, your wound," Sasuki said, glancing at the claws the Demon Brothers – Kakashi had finally pulled their faces out of the bingo book – had used to cut him. The blade was coated in purplish syrupy liquid that smelled distinctly of vinegar and some other herbs she couldn't put her finger on. "They were using poison," the girl concluded.

Naruto chuckled slightly. "I'll be fine. It's a shallow wound," he said as he turned his head to reveal the injured cheek to her. While it was actually a lot deeper to start out with, Naruto's tenant had made sure that the poison was gone and the wound was healing quickly. Sasuki nodded after a second or two, but Sakura stared in amazement.

"How is that possible when there's still so much blood on your cheek?" she asked.

"So Tazuna, care to tell us why we just got attacked?" Naruto asked. Sakura's expression deadpanned at the way her question was so easily ignored, but she knew that he probably just didn't want to talk about it. Tazuna shrugged, but he was obviously hiding something by the look on his face.

"Come on, old man, tell us. Not like we can protect you from what we don't know about," Naruto urged. Tazuna sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in an annoyed fashion.

"Fine, I suppose I should tell you. I'm being hunted down by the big guy up top. His name's Gatou, and _when_ I finish building the bridge, he'll be losing major profits on trade. He's been trying to hold the production back for years, and he's finally gotten us to the point where we either quit and die peacefully, or go against him and end up dead a lot sooner. I was hoping that we wouldn't be met with resistance so soon, but I'll understand if you want to stop dragging my lying ass around."

"Like hell we're quitting!"

Everyone turned at Naruto's reaction, facing him. "We've come too far as it is to let a minor setback like some crime lord hold us back. We're shinobi of Konoha, for God's sake," he proclaimed, smirking proudly.

"Naruto, as confident as you may feel that's up for the whole team to decide. I'm willing to continue if we come to a consensus, of course, but I won't be the sensei that drags along two of his students because the other doesn't know the meaning of the phrase quit while you're ahead," Kakashi stated, "So, are you girls up for something a bit more challenging than your average C-rank?"

Sakura had frozen at Tazuna's story. This situation had her pulled in two different directions. Her common sense said that taking this risk was too dangerous at their current level, but her pride and anxiousness to prove herself in a way much similar to her blonde teammate argued that if they didn't do this now, they'd be seen as weak.

"Alright, I'll do it if Naruto and Sasuki will," she said, deciding that she would be okay if any more enemies attacked. They did have Kakashi-sensei after all.

Sasuki nodded in confirmation, offering nothing but a short "I'm in." Kakashi smiled beneath his deep blue mask, looking slightly amused.

"Alright then, Team Seven. It's getting late, so why don't we find a place to shack up for the night. We want to be well rested come morning. Who wants the first watch?"

The three Genin paled at this, all looking a little exasperated. "You're the sensei! Isn't it your job to take the first watch so that we can sleep and keep our energy up?" Sakura asked. Kakashi laughed, unsealing two tents from a scroll, one for Naruto, Tazuna and him, and another for Sasuki and Sakura.

"I'll take it, I'll take it," he said, holding up two hands in mock surrender. "Besides, it gives me a chance to set up a perimeter. We should be fine after that, unless Gatou actually went to the trouble and expenses to hire, say, an S-ranked criminal to come after you, Tazuna-san."

"Don't worry about it, Hatake-sensei, I'll take care of the perimeter. You can hop in after that," Naruto said, flicking his wrist to reveal several sheets of sealing paper. His grin grew wicked as he hopped off, not even giving Kakashi a chance to respond as he cackled into the thicket.

"You think he'll be okay?" Sakura asked, turning to Sasuki. The sound of tree branches cracking and very audible curses filled up the area just after that, drawing the attention and giggles of both girls.

"One can only hope, but personally, I give him a generous half hour," the ravenette replied with a sly smirk. Sakura nodded, sharing in the comedy of the moment. It seemed the blonde just couldn't escape his role as the comic relief of their squad no matter how hard he tried.

"I would think that since you two were so close you would have more faith in him. Is he really that weak?" the pink haired kunoichi asked, her tone still light despite the phishing nature of the question. That was Sakura, of course. She was always scheming something when it came to drama and romance.

"Naruto-kun is, well, a lot different than your average shinobi. He's strong enough to survive, or it's plausible from what I've seen that he just doesn't know how to die. I may treat him a little rough from time to time, but that's because if I do anything else things just seem to get complicated. Trust me Sakura, what you saw back there with those perverts; that was just the tip of the iceberg when we get to the subject of what he can really do."

Sakura stared at her fellow kunoichi in amazement. Whatever the chakra Naruto had used was…there was more? He had been holding back? Just what kind of training did Naruto put himself through outside the academy?

Not giving Sakura a chance to ask herself anymore questions, Naruto appeared in a blur of black, blonde, and orange. "Miss me?" he asked with a cocky smile adorning his face. "I've set up a few snares and a perimeter that should give us fair enough warning to any attack. The seals I used were…adequate. I've still got a lot to learn, especially since half of it is calligraphy, and the other half is technique."

Sasuki smirked. "Well then, looks like I better go double-check your work. Who knows, maybe you'll blow something up on accident. Again," her eyes were mocking him, and he frowned.

"You know that was only a one-time thing. I learn from my larger scale mistakes.

Sasuki laughed, going out to check the area. If he'd set it up correctly, no one would have to take watch. That was the convenient part of using seals.

"Hey, Naruto," Sakura began when Sasuki was out of sight. He looked over at her, staring inquisitively. Sakura looked away, slightly embarrassed. After all, she'd been one of his top hecklers all those years in the academy, and yet he'd probably saved her life just today.

"What is it?" he asked, letting his naïve side show as he tried to move around and catch her gaze. This resulted in the pinkette taking a sigh of both fatigue and reluctance.

"I just wanted to say thanks for fighting those guys today. If you hadn't, I don't know if I'd have been much help. If you haven't noticed I'm somewhat lacking in areas Sasuki and you aren't."

Naruto chuckled, patting her on the shoulder.

"Relax, just put in a little effort and you'll be kicking ass in no time. Don't sell yourself short as just your average run of the mill kunoichi. You're smart, smarter than me at least. You'll be a great ninja, you just have to keep training every day until you make it."

The two stood there in silence, and when Sasuki returned to confirm Naruto's success, Sakura looked at the sky in relief. "Wow, look at all those stars. You can't see anything like this back in Konoha." Naruto and Sasuki also looked towards the sky, taking in the beauty of the view.

"It's because there are too many lights on in the village during nights like this. The light from below blocks them out. Kinda disrespectful if you ask me," Naruto breathed out calmly, lying flat on his back in the grass, arms and legs sprawled out like a child.

Sakura and Sasuki did the same, gazing at the heavens for quite a while and just taking in the sounds and smells of the night air. "How does that work?" Sasuki asked the blonde. Naruto grinned.

"Because when you outshine another light on purpose, it's like you're taking all the attention away from the smaller lights just because you can," he replied coolly. Sakura smirked at his analogy.

"Yeah, like how my huge forehead draws the attention away from the rest of me," she chuckled slightly at her own joke. Naruto turned to face her, looking slightly peeved.

"Didn't I just finish telling you not to sell yourself short? Your forehead is perfectly normal, and if it is big it was one of the reasons I had that huge crush on you back in the academy."

He poked her in the part of her head in question to make his point, reminding Sasuki of how Itachi had done almost the exact same thing to her quite often before the massacre.

"Yeah, thanks Naruto," Sakura said before falling silent. Naruto then turned to Sasuki unprovoked.

"And to you, because you're precious to me, I want you to know that you can be strong enough to kill him, but life wasn't meant to be wasted on pursuing revenge. People care about you, and the shit you're going through now is always going to have a silver lining. Think of it like this; if he had never killed your family, this team dynamic would just be downright dysfunctional, because you'd probably still hate my guts. I turned out to be a half decent guy, right?"

Awed at his sudden statement as well as the blonde's apparent insight as to her thoughts, Sasuki remained silent. Instead of using words, she opted to lean in and peck him on the cheek, which instantly turned his face seven different shades of red as he wiped the cheek in question with his hand smoothly.

Sakura was a bit shocked at the action. Sasuki had never been one to display much affection to anyone in public. In fact, she was surprised that Sasuki was being so bold at all. What had sparked all of this? What was it that brought Naruto and Sasuki so close together in such a short amount of time?

"And me…well, I'll get to my troubles later. But as for my bright side, I'm on a team with two beautiful girls, out of my village for the first time while simultaneously taking my next little step to fulfilling my dream of being Hokage. Could life really get any better than this?"

They all laughed before taking one last long look towards the sky, taking in the captivating view of the stars before they retreated to their respective tents for the night.

* * *

**I'm back, baby.**


	8. Tajuu Hiraishin

**Last Update: 六月二十五日２０１３**

* * *

The next morning while walking, all the Genin of Squad Seven had something on their minds. Naruto was working out the kinks in his new idea for a jutsu that involved clones and the Hiraishin, a skill he'd not yet trained up to a satisfactory level. There were quite a few ways to view exactly _how_ the technique worked, after all. You could see it as the seal in the hilt of the Kunai containing your chakra and pulling you to it like a magnet. However, this would mean that you'd have relatively no control over the motion. You could view it as a summoning technique used on yourself, but then there was no explanation for the streak of yellow that was supposed to appear. He'd come to the conclusion that it was similar to the summoning Jutsu, but instead of teleportation, you had the pull from the idea of the Chakra Magnet.

Sasuki was contemplating the best way to go about training to kill Itachi. Yes, it was that time of the day again. After all, she was still an avenger…just not one of those avengers that put every ounce of their mind and soul into getting revenge. She had a team that she would protect from anyone, even Itachi. She cared about all of them too much to let them die at the hands of another Uchiha. She needed the skills required to become an ANBU level ninja. She needed Elemental Manipulation that extended beyond the handful of Katon Jutsu she knew, the full control over her Sharingan, and the physical prowess to always come out on top. Otherwise…otherwise everyone would die again.

Sakura had her mind full with just how to train for the rest of the day. Unlike Naruto and Sasuki, she had no dream like becoming Hokage or killing a missing nin who destroyed her family. She was Haruno Sakura, the daughter of a merchant and a retired Chunin. She had no special bloodlines to grant her an advantage in battle. What was it Naruto had said? She was a support-type? A medic, a poison user, a genjutsu user, anything that could aid the assault once it began, but not do much by means of direct confrontation. Was that the only thing she could do? The skills of a medic Nin seemed almost useless compared to what she'd seen her team do so far.

Naruto suddenly turned, throwing a shuriken through the air and into the bushes. He charged in, expecting to bring out an enemy ninja, but instead returned to the group with just about the cutest bunny rabbit in the entire world, fidgeting in sheer terror. Sakura instantly began to coo over it while chiding Naruto for aiming at such a defenseless creature. Meanwhile, Kakashi analyzed the animal, concluding that Naruto may have not been wrong in his assault. The rabbit had white fur, despite the warm climate. It had been raised in captivity, meaning that it was either a lost pet, which was unlikely given the lack of population in the area, or that it was used for a Kawarimi

The faint whirling of metal in the air brought Naruto's naturally sensitive ears and Kakashi's trained senses to attention. "Everyone down!" the silver haired Jounin shouted, tackling his Genin and Tazuna to the ground. A zanbatou the same height as the tall Jounin's body came flying overhead, lodging itself in a tree after just barely missing the group. Kakashi and Naruto looked in the direction of the blade's origin, only to have a voice echo from behind them.

"Where are you looking?"

Suddenly a man with his face wrapped in white bandages appeared on the hilt of the sword. His back was to them, projecting an air of self-confidence. Naruto took a step forward, eyeing the man suspiciously. However, before he could get any closer Kakashi held out a hand to stop him.

"You're in the way," the silver haired Jounin said darkly, making Naruto freeze in his tracks. Kakashi was never quite this serious, and the fact that he was now was more than a little unnerving. He'd been pretty laid back even with the Demon Brothers, but his tone now displayed the dire nature of the matters at hand.

Kakashi's hand went up to the headband, revealing his Sharingan eye along with the narrow scar that held a story all of its own, though no one here but him was aware of it. "Momochi Zabuza, The Demon of the Bloody Mist," he said softly. Zabuza's head turned sharply.

"Glad you've heard of me, Kakashi of the Sharingan," he replied. "Now stand aside and hand over the old man!"

Naruto was both enamored and terrified at the feeling of killer intent in the air. He was used to disdain and even the occasional drunken attempt on his life, but even the hordes of people that had beat him within an inch of his life weren't capable of dealing as much damage to the psyche as his sensei and this new opponent seemed to be doing.

"Who is this guy, Hatake-sensei?" Naruto asked, his voice trembling a bit against his will. It was hard not to seem scared given the situation. He wasn't entirely ignorant, after all.

"Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist. Wielder of Kubikiri Houchou, the Decapitating Carving Knife. Before the Genin exams were put into order around Kirigakure, there was a certain test that you had to take to become a ninja," Kakashi muttered.

A flash of insight from Naruto's analysis of Bingo Books and his trusty copy of History of the Kage and other Elite Shinobi of the World came to the boy, and he recalled just what this test was, and he realized just who they were dealing with.

"A fight to the death between all the academy's students. In a display of ruthlessness and killing prowess, you killed over one hundred students before even qualifying to be one yourself," Naruto muttered, gazing up towards Zabuza with a mixture of caution and aggression in his eyes. "You're a monster."

"Close boy, but the correct term would be demon. Now, if you'd like to stop flattering me for two seconds, I'd like to end this quickly. I have more important things to worry about than some greenhorns and their copycat instructor."

With that, he vanished, reappearing on the water of a nearby pond below with one hand in a seal pressed firmly against his chest and the other one raised completely over his head. Water was shooting up all around him in a scene of pure destructive power as a thick fog cut off all vision. "Sakura, Sasuki, Naruto, Manji formation around Tazuna! I'll take care of Zabuza."

Wordlessly, the Genin circled around the bridge builder as Kakashi and Zabuza prepared to fight. Their killing intents were phenomenal, almost too much. Sasuki hadn't felt anything like this since Naruto had gone berserk. Her hands were trembling as Zabuza and Kakashi stared each other down.

Their fight was so fast she could barely see it. This was probably somewhat due to the mist that Zabuza had cast from the water. However, what she could tell was that soon after the fight had begun Kakashi had been trapped in a sphere of water, and Zabuza had created a Mizu Bunshin to keep up his attack.

* * *

In all actuality, the fight wasn't too long. However, that didn't mean that it wasn't intense. The way Zabuza was capable of swinging around Kubikiri Houchou so easily – with one arm no less – denoted considerable upper body strength and tremendous balance. His speed while carrying such a weighty weapon was also to be factored in.

Even with the Sharingan up, Kakashi couldn't quite get a hold on Zabuza's location with the chakra-based mist all around him. Sighing, he began gathering energy in his center, waiting for the slightest movement or the smallest inkling of action from his Sharingan eye that he could react to. He found himself dashing to the left in a low crouch as Zabuza's sword swung overhead, and at the moment just after the attack, Kakashi released the energy he'd been gathering, pushing aside the mist to free up visibility.

"A clever little trick, Kakashi, but I won't need my silent killing techniques to finish you off," Zabuza sneered as he swung his blade in a wide overhead arc, intent on cleaving Kakashi in two. At the last second, the silver haired Jounin brought out a kunai in each hand, crossing the short blades as he caught the brunt force of Zabuza's blow close to the hilt.

The ground cracked underneath Kakashi, but the Jounin had pumped a massive amount of chakra into his arms and legs for that move. He'd be fine, if a little winded. Still, he'd made eye contact with his foe, and that's all he needed to end things.

"I've got you right where I want you, Zabuza," Kakashi exclaimed as they both began running through hand seals like madmen. Zabuza cringed as he realized that Kakashi was forming the same seals that he was in nearly perfect unison.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan!" They both exclaimed as water erupted from the pond in the shape of a dragon, lunging at each other as they collided and cancelled each other out. However, the cloud of water that cut off visual contact was all that Zabuza needed to perform his next technique.

The water around Kakashi suddenly felt much heavier. Eyes snapping wide, the man attempted to leap away, but it was to no avail. Zabuza had already snared him. That was the nasty thing about the Sharingan. You needed to keep eye contact with the person you were going up against to maintain the effects of the doujutsu. Kakashi hadn't expected Zabuza to use a water prison, and now he was paying for it.

"The three of you run, and take Tazuna! Zabuza's clone can't stray too far from him or it'll disperse!" Kakashi cried before the water swallowed him into a giant orb, allowing Zabuza to emerge from the water with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

Everyone was surprised when Naruto grinned. "Like hell I'm running. If you think I'll turn away, even for a second, then you're crazy."

"Naruto, this is no time to play the hero, go!" Kakashi yelled. Naruto laughed as he formed the cross seal, several Kage Bunshin springing from clouds of smoke that formed. They spread out in a fanning motion, each with a Kunai in hand. They stabbed them into the ground in several places as Kakashi's eyes shot open. Naruto couldn't be planning to do something like _that_, could he?

With the snap of Naruto's fingers, the clones joined hands in a circle, thoroughly distracting the clone from the previously dropped kunai. With all the clones' arms interlocked, they'd formed a ring that one could only assume was meant to keep the clone from escaping. With a hearty chuckle, it held up its sword and prepared for whatever move Naruto was going to make.

The blonde made more clones and charged with them at the swordsman, disregarding the ring of kunai that had just been stuck into the ground. It was a strange shift in tactics, but the clone had deduced that it was nothing more than cheap theatrics.

"Alright, let's get a plan together, Sasuki. Follow my lead."

The blonde's clones all piled on top of the swordsman, attacking from every feasible angle. However, in an explosion of chakra they were all sent flying back. As Naruto slid violently across the ground, clones bursting into smoke all around him, he pulled what looked like a small four-layered blade. He tossed it to Sasuki, who caught it in her hand and smirked.

"I see. Alright then, try not to screw this up," the Uchiha said as she flicked her wrist and let her arm fall to her side, effectively revealing the four blades of the Fuuma shuriken. She jumped into the air as she threw it, sending the rotating blades straight at their intended target.

Zabuza smirked, holding out his hand that hadn't been occupied with maintaining his water prison and catching it. "Kid, if you think that a measly shuriken will get to me, then you've got another thing coming," the man with the bandaged face chortled.

He hadn't been expecting the second shuriken. Honestly, neither had Kakashi, so when Zabuza jumped into the air, eyes wide, Kakashi almost had to do a double-take to make sure he saw right. If his Sharingan was correct, that was no ordinary shuriken. That was Naruto.

As the transformation ended, Naruto flew from the cloud of smoke with a three pronged kunai in hand. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for Kakashi as Naruto threw the weapon at the ground beneath him. Zabuza laughed, an air of superiority surrounding him again. "Giving up, brat?" he asked. Naruto smirked.

"Not even close. Tell me, where are the rest of my kunai?" Naruto said, pointing right at Zabuza, who turned around to see the ring that the blonde had set up earlier. Then, before the man even had the chance to think what this could mean, a bright yellow flash streaked across the battlefield.

Its first target was Zabuza's water clone, but it didn't stop there. The flash blew right through the clone, sending streams of water everywhere before shifting directions, spinning around the ring rapidly for two or three rotations before heading straight for Zabuza, swiping across him multiple times at blinding speed. With each passing flash of yellow a new cut appeared across the sword user's body. When the streak began to slow, Naruto's body erupted from it, flying towards Zabuza at a rapid rate.

His feet hit the ground, but he continued to slide across the grass, a ball of spiraling blue energy appearing in his hand. Zabuza's eyes went wide when he caught a glimpse of the boy's gaze. His eyes were a deep purple hue with slit, white pupils and a ring of the same color circling them. On the outside of the ring, three tomoe stood in the same stark white hue.

The fear that Zabuza felt build up in his body from that gaze alone was enough to make the water prison lose all of its integrity, but luckily Naruto halted a foot or so away from him, his knees weak, his arms barely moving, and the Rasengan less than a millimeter away from his chest. The blonde just didn't have the energy to move anymore. "Dammit," he panted out before falling to his knees.

Zabuza glared harshly as the pain from his wounds set in. The cuts stung with both the loss of his pride and physical pain, and the fact that he'd let such a brat get that close to him with what looked like a fairly powerful technique almost drove him insane. With a rapidly spiking killer intent, he raised his massive sword clean above his head before bringing it down in fury.

"**Naruto**!" Sasuki screamed. It was the Uchiha massacre all over again. She fell to her knees, frozen in shock, hoping that by some miracle that this was all just a dream, that she would wake up at the campsite and that Naruto would still be alive. She knew better, though. This was no nightmare. This was real.

Kakashi moved quickly, blocking the massive sword with his hand as blood spurted from his glove, his skin giving way under the force of the blow, and at least one bone cracking due to the force behind it. He jumped back, taking Naruto back to the team. He set the semi-unconscious blonde down gently. "Sasuki, protect him," Kakashi said darkly, "I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I would never let anything happen to my students. Zabuza, you're going to pay!"

His hands moved as fast as lightning, running through seal after seal in rapid succession. "Raikiri!" the Jounin announced just as the ball of blue electricity formed in his hand, three senbon flew from nowhere and lodged themselves into Zabuza's neck. The heavily injured swordsman fell to his knees, his eyes rolling into the back of his head before he slumped over dead.

Everyone froze with this. Kakashi's technique died down into nothingness, not even the chirping of birds that echoed in the air remained. "You can come out now," the silver haired Jounin stated in a bored tone.

A shinobi wearing a white mask with a red spiral appeared in front of the body. "Thank you for keeping him busy. I will take him back to my village for proper disposal," the young masked boy said. Kakashi simply nodded before the masked man disappeared again, taking Zabuza with him this time.

"Kakashi-sensei, wasn't that a bit rushed? I mean, of course it's good to cooperate, but I'm not quite sure what just happened," Sakura said. Her question remained unanswered as the Cyclops also fell to his knees from exhaustion. Sakura ran over to help him, covering his Sharingan with his hitai-ate and propping him up on her shoulder so he could stagger along with the group.

"Hey, Hatake-sensei, looks like both of us need to smarten up, eh?" Naruto asked. He was leaning against Sasuki, a small smirk on his face and his eyes their typical cerulean blue. Kakashi smirked at the comment, the facial expression evident in his one visible eye.

Then the coughing started.

Naruto slipped off of Sasuki and hit his knees, hacking blood into his hand as his skin turned bright red. He wanted to scream, but couldn't find the strength or the time between his choking. Sasuki's eyes were wide as she watched him. What had happened to Naruto? She was kneeling by his side all of a sudden, holding him stable as he continued to cough, trying desperately to think of what had gone wrong. Was it his technique? She was the one who had thrown him at Zabuza without a second thought. Was this her fault?

"Kakashi-sensei what's happening to him!?" Sasuki cried. Kakashi lowered his head, as if waiting for something, and within thirty seconds Naruto's coughing had stopped. However, when Sakura took out her medical pack to check for injury and removed Naruto's shirt, a world of bruises and abrasions seemed to appear before their very eyes, with more fading into existence. The blonde's whole body was turning a sickly purple with the blood pooling inside of him. Sakura had to look away, and Sasuki was on the verge of a mental collapse.

"This is…a side effect to Naruto's plan," Kakashi mumbled. The blonde smirked in pain, as he gazed at the purplish-black marks that coated a majority of his abdominals. "His Hiraishin is undeveloped when he only tries to use it once, but adding the changes in direction and the fact he tried for a Rasengan at the end of it all exponentially increased the risk. He's lucky he's still alive."

"I'd honestly love to hear about how irresponsible and stupid that was, but there's a small problem," Naruto mumbled, holding up a hand to interject, "I…am about to lose consciousness. So, if we could get moving…that would be nice."

As if on cue, Naruto's head dropped to the side and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Kakashi sighed. "I'm assuming you can get us to your house from here, Tazuna," the Jounin said. The grey haired man nodded, taking the lead.

"We're just a stone's throw away now is all, I doubt after Zabuza that Gatou would send more assailants."

Kakashi nodded. Hopefully, Gatou wouldn't be sending anyone else after them for quite a while. Zabuza couldn't be a cheap hire.

"Sasuki, see if you can move Naruto, I don't think that he has any broken bones, but be gentle. His body is probably still sensitive to pressure after his attack," Kakashi said. Sasuki nodded, lifting Naruto's body so that he could rest against her shoulder as Tazuna lead them to his village.

* * *

Naruto's eyes fluttered open, slowly focusing on the scenes around him. There was someone with him. "Did we make it?" he asked quietly, looking to his right to see Sasuki. She nodded, crawling over closer to him from her sitting position. She remained silent, her hand pressed against his forehead. When she seemed satisfied that he didn't have a fever, she allowed herself to begin tugging innocently at the bangs of his hair, occupying herself with something while she spoke.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," she whispered, looking away from him and shutting her eyes. Naruto frowned. The stinging sensation in his abdominals meant that he was still hurt from his Hiraishin attack on Zabuza, so that was probably what had the girl so scared.

"You were exhausted, that was obvious by how much chakra you used, but then you just started trembling and collapsed like that. I thought you'd killed yourself."

"Sasuki, I'm sorry, but it was the only way to get Zabuza to let go of Hatake-sensei," the blonde mumbled, "If I hadn't done what I did, then…"

He was silenced when Sasuki put a finger against his lips. She tilted in and pressed her lips gently against his. Naruto's eyes went wide. His body wasn't responding to his mind, whether it be because of his injuries or the fact that the raven haired Uchiha was kissing him, but he didn't care.

The kiss broke off, and Naruto was surprised to see tears welling up in Sasuki's eyes. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. You saved us. When I was too scared to move, you gave me confidence and gambled with your life to save me, and because of that you ended up like this. I…I'm not strong enough yet, but I have to be. I have to get stronger, because I can't bear to lose you. Not like everyone else."

This time, he was the one to kiss her. Sasuki's eyes widened in surprise, her expression remaining the same when he pulled away. "I will _never _leave you, Sasuki-chan."

The girl smiled at his words, and was certain that they were sincere, but that didn't mean that he was indestructible. More than anything else, Naruto was mortal. He could come back from facing death all he wanted, but that wouldn't stop him from dying one day. That's what scared her.

"Get some sleep, Naruto-kun. You need to rest. It's late," Sasuki said. It was just then that Naruto realized the bags under her eyes.

"I've been out for a while, and you stayed up. You're the one who needs rest," he countered. Sasuki smirked and nodded, laying down next to him.

"I'll sleep when you do," she replied. Playing along, Naruto shut hi eyes and took a few deep breaths. Sasuki did the same, though her level of fatigue far outweighed his own, meaning she was the first one to fall asleep. Smirking, Naruto decided that rather than get up and check on how things were going like he'd originally planned, he'd rather prefer to just lay here until morning came.

A small knock on the wall outside the room woke up Naruto. He looked to his side to see Sasuki, then to the open door to see Sakura. The pinkette had a nervous look on her face, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said. Naruto chuckled, shaking his head.

"No, come on in. Though I might need some help moving if that's what you want me to do," he said. He looked over at Sasuki, who was sleeping peacefully. A small smirk appeared on his face. She could sleep for a while longer.

Sakura helped him to a standing position, and from there he was able to stagger along through the house, using different pieces of furniture as support. Naruto's nose rose to the air, sniffing. "Is that food?" he asked. Sakura nodded.

"You must be pretty hungry. You've been out for two days," Sakura commented. Naruto nodded, walking unsteadily towards the dining room.

The spread across the table was a sight for the blonde's sore eyes – it wasn't just a metaphor, even his eyes had grown sore in the fight against Zabuza. He quickly got to work on the food, scarfing down all he could. Footsteps from the hallway caused him to turn his head and see Kakashi on a pair of crutches. The blonde couldn't help but laugh heartily, which caused him to clutch his stomach in pain from his injuries.

"Note to self: It hurts to laugh," he muttered under his breath before digging back into his meal.

The Cyclops rolled his eyes, or at least the one that was visible, as he sat down. "Good to see you up, Naruto. Feeling any better?" the silver haired man asked, glancing at the blonde from across the table.

Naruto scoffed. "Oh yeah, that's why I'm wrapped up like a freaking mummy," he replied. He was quick to lift his black T-shirt and reveal the bandages that covered the lower half of his upper body, "But don't worry about it, I'm sure now that I'm conscious that I'll finish healing rather quickly."

Kakashi nodded just as Sasuki walked out from the hallway. "Hey there, sleepyhead. You hungry?" Naruto asked. Sasuki smirked at him, taking a seat next to the blonde before piling food onto her own plate.

"So Hatake-sensei, have you figured out what you wanna do about Zabuza?" Naruto asked. Sakura's head turned sharply to look at the blonde.

"Didn't that hunter nin take care of him? You don't think he's still alive after that, do you?" she asked

"Senbon typically aren't weapons used for killing. There are certain points in the body that when hit in unison can trigger a death-like state, which is why weapons like senbon exist," Kakashi interjected, "In all likelihood, that wasn't even a real hunter nin, otherwise he would have cut off Zabuza's head in order to prove that he was dead, not lug around the whole body."

Sakura nodded, looking down at her plate. "So he's coming back. Can we really handle both of them? I mean, It took both you and Naruto to take him down the first time, sensei."

"That's why we'll be training for the next couple of days," Kakashi returned, "We need to beat them and then stop Gatou."

"Do you really think you can win when so many others have failed?"

The voice of the small brown haired child came from the hallway as he walked towards the table.

"Inari, what are you saying? These people are only here to protect us. Be nice," Tsunami – the daughter of Tazuna and their primary caretaker now that they were mostly bedridden – scolded him. The boy scoffed, glaring at Naruto in disrespect.

"And you! You've been unconscious for two days! What makes you think that next time you won't be killed!? That's exactly what's going to happen if you try to act like a hero. That's what happens to all the heroes!" Inari protested. Naruto's expression darkened as he stood.

"Cute kid. Where'd he learn his manners?" the blonde commented.

"Shut up! You think you're so great, but what do you know!? Do you know what it's been like for me to grow up without a father? He tried to stand up to Gatou and got killed for it! So what makes you think you're any better?"

Naruto's previously dark expression flared up in anger. No one yelled at him for not knowing what it was like to grow up without something, even if the person didn't know anything about him.

"Listen punk, I'm getting fed up with your whining and complaining. You're not a baby, so man up! You think it's so hard just because you didn't have a parent growing up? I wish I'd had a mother to look after me, I wish I'd had a grandfather to come find me help! I was an orphan on the streets, brat. Do you really think I had it easy just because I grew up in a big village? You're wrong as hell. Look at what you have and be grateful for it!"

With that the blonde stood and stomped out of the room towards the door. "Naruto, where are you going?" Sasuki called. Naruto was in no condition to move in his current state.

"For a walk, I'll be back later," he grumbled, slamming the door shut. Sasuki stood as well, rushing for the door.

"He's not in any condition to be moving by himself right now. I'll go with him."

The table slowly lost its residents one by one after that, Inari being the first to storm off in a huff. He was soon followed by Kakashi, then Sakura. Tazuna and Tsunami just sat there with depressed expressions on their face. There was really nothing they could do about Inari, after all.

Kakashi, on the other hand, had an idea that just may help build up the boy's shattered faith in heroes. He approached Inari, who was sitting on the balcony that came out of his room, and sat down next to him. There was a comfortable silence for a few seconds, neither of them acknowledging one another. The sun was just beginning to set, so the two had their eyes locked on the horizon.

"You know," Kakashi said, "Naruto meant well by what he said. Not to sound like a broken record, but he didn't have any family at all while growing up. Truth is, he probably didn't say anything to you that he hasn't told himself a thousand times."

With that the silver haired Jounin stood and walked away. Inari's gaze hadn't wavered from the skyline. His thoughts were floating over him like a storm cloud. He still just wasn't sure if there was anyone who could stand up to Gatou or not. The way his father – or at least the man he _thought of_ as his father – had died was too terrible to wish on anyone, and he didn't want to lose anyone else.

* * *

The dark of night had fallen upon the clearing that Naruto had decided to begin using for his training. He pulled a string of six three-bladed kunai from his weapons pouch and began sticking them in random trees in the fifty foot clearing. He formed a Kage Bunshin and had him stand in the exact center of the field before Naruto hopped up the nearest tree, taking aim of the first path he would take.

"Naruto!"

The voice distracted him just long enough for his weakened form to lose grip of the tree and fall, luckily landing on his feet. "Sasuki, what are you doing out here?" the blonde asked inquisitively.

The raven haired Uchiha looked around, spotting the kunai. A look of fear washed over her face. "You're using _that_ jutsu again!? You idiot, what are you thinking? That's dangerous!" She grabbed him by the shoulders, staring into his eyes. "Promise me, Naruto. Promise me you won't use that Jutsu anymore. I don't want you making your injuries worse."

Naruto frowned as he stared into Sasuki's eyes. She was terrified. Guilt washed over him like a tidal wave. He had always thought that the only person that his Jutsu could hurt were him and the person he used it on, but now he saw that hurting himself would only do this to Sasuki. He brought his hand up, brushing the back of her hair. "I used to think that if I ever wanted to get any better at anything, I'd need to completely exhaust myself trying it."

"That's stupid! If you try that with something this dangerous, you'll wind up dead!"

"I know. I know. It's just that sometimes I get frustrated. I stop caring about the consequences and just dive headlong into something. It's what I do."

"Naruto!"

"Sasuki! I promise you that I won't do that with this! I know you're worried, and I know the risks. It's just that Hatake-sensei said that we'd be training to beat Zabuza, and the only way I came close to doing that was with this technique. It's tempting to try and rely on it, but if you don't think it's a good idea, then I'll stop."

Tears that had welled up in Sasuki's eyes were released as she smiled warmly at him. "Thank you, Naruto," she whispered, tilting her head down.

The way she looked right now was nearly irresistible to the blonde. He succumbed to his urges and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her in close and putting her head in his chest. "Don't mention it. Consider it compensation for the kisses I've been getting lately."

Sasuki blushed lightly, "About that. Do you…do you like them? Or is it weird? I never really asked you if it was okay or anything. I just sort of did what I felt was right, which is what you usually do so I figured it was okay. I mean, if you want me to stop, I will. I'd be absolutely fine with it, so it's not like I'd be hurt or…"

"You're talking too much," Naruto interrupted. Perhaps this once it would be alright to make the first move. He'd already started, so it wasn't like he could turn back now. Moving his hand from the back of her head to her chin, he gently lifted her head up until their eyes were locked. Then he moved in.

Sasuki's blush intensified and her eyes went wide with shock. He was actually kissing her. Sure, he'd done it when he first woke up, but maybe he was just going along with her at the time. Maybe it was just his way of relieving stress from the hardship. But now that he'd actually taken the game a step further with almost no provocation, she had her answer.

He broke away from her, a wide smile on his face. "That's a lot of questions at once. As for liking your kisses, I love them. You're amazing, Sasuki, and I'd do anything for you. But right now, I think it's important to focus on the mission. When we get back to the village we can sort our feelings out. That doesn't make me seem selfish, does it? I mean, I like you, you're precious to me. I'll be anything you want me to be for you whether it's just a friend or something more, but we can't be distracted right now, right?"

Sasuki nodded. She was new to the dating game as well, and she did enjoy spending time with Naruto. But were they really couple material? Yes, they seemed to be kindred spirits, but was this really love? Truth be told, she needed a little time to think things over as well. "Alright, but when we get back I want an answer, okay?"

Naruto nodded, grinning ear to ear. "You'll see, Sasuki. Everything's going to work out. I'll protect you, I'll protect everyone. You're one of my most precious people, and because of that I can't allow Zabuza to harm you. Come on, let's meet up with Hatake-sensei for training. We need to get stronger."

Sasuki shook her head, looking into his eyes. Naruto shouldn't be so worried about everyone else's safety when to her, his was so much more important. She'd return this protection of his, even if she had to die like he seemed ready to.

"You need your rest. You still need to recover, and even if I have to make you sleep out here, you're not going to train until tomorrow, and even then I want you to take it easy, alright?"

Naruto frowned for a second before his eyes lit up with an idea. "You know, when was the last time we just stayed up and watched the stars? We did for a little while during the start of the mission, but before that it was the festival back home a few months back. Come on, let's act like Shikamaru for the rest of the night. You, me, and the night air with nothing to stop us from having all the fun we want, what do you say?"

At the mention of the lazy cloud-gazer Sasuki chuckled. Before too long the two of them were laying on the ground, hand in hand and looking up to the sky. Almost in slow motion, a shooting star went by. The stream of stardust behind it glittering in the night sky, making it seem all the more magical

The two stared at it in amazement. The white streak reminded Naruto of his Hiraishin for a second. Then he remembered what he should do at a time like this. He turned to the Uchiha female, grinning widely. "Make a wish, Sasuki-chan," he whispered. Sasuki chuckled at the childishness of it all before shutting his eyes.

"I want-"

"No, don't tell me, it won't come true then."

Sasuki smirked, looking away from the blonde. _"Would it be so wrong if I ask that this night would last forever? That we could go back to Konoha and end up like this every night for the rest of our lives?_"

Little did she know, Naruto was wondering the same thing.

* * *

**So, as most of you can probably see, I'm toning way, _way _back on the progression of the relationship between the two twelve year olds. It just makes things make more sense, y'know? Anyways, expect future updates to come quickly as far as edits are concerned. Drop a review if you see anything that you like, hate, or whatever. Feedback is what drives my desire to pick this thing up again after so long.**


	9. Revenge

**Last Updated: 八月七日２０１３**

* * *

Despite the slow, almost lazy rise of the sun through the sky that morning, the clearing that Naruto had decided to turn into a training ground and then a stargazing site had been invaded by the soft footsteps of a slender figure as it treaded softly through to woods.

A basket full of assorted herbs in hand, this person was keeping a watchful eye on the ground for these plants. They were careful to not pick ones too small, as their youth would also likely make them less potent for the task at hand. Besides, picking too many would prove bad for the flora of the surrounding area. That wouldn't be acceptable.

It was upon entering the clearing that the figure laid eyes on two sleeping children, one dressed in blue and white, and the other in orange and black. A small smile graced the features of the figure. They were ninja, of course. That much was known simply by the fact that they were wearing the headbands that they were. However, the figure had also seen them before. They had been partially responsible for putting the man that this person was caring for in the state that he was in currently.

It would be simple enough to take out two senbon and pierce their brains, stopping them from further threatening the boy's master. In fact, such prudent action would likely be met with approval from the man. However, the boy had always struggled with making the kill. It was something he'd never done before, and because of it he could not call himself a true shinobi. However, he was also glad for that fact.

Placing a gentle hand against the shoulder of the other male in the group stirred him to wakefulness, and he instantly sprung up, his head shooting back and forth to try and catch a glimpse of some sort of imaginary predator, the boy imagined. However, he was not going to find one here.

"Hello," he spoke, his tone light and slightly carefree. Upon speaking, the girl beside the blonde male also awoke, and while her movements were not as obvious as her friend's, she did noticeably dart her gaze around her surroundings as she sat up as well.

"Um, hey," Naruto spoke, picking his weight up off the ground and standing. Sasuki was quick to follow his example. The whole situation was awkward. The person in front of him was so pretty, and he wasn't used to being woken up by a smiling girl, so he was sort of at a loss. He figured the best he could do was stay quiet and wait for something to happen.

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you, but might I ask what you two are doing sleeping out here. Surely you have a place to stay for the night," the person spoke, smiling at their final sentence. Naruto didn't really get the humor behind it, so he decided a straight answer would be the best.

"Well, I wanted to train for a bit, but I'm a little worse for wear than usual, so Sasuki came to keep an eye on me," he said, gesturing towards the Uchiha female with his head.

"Worse for wear doesn't even begin to describe it, idiot," Sasuki huffed, shaking her head. Still, the appearance of this new figure was a little offsetting. Why were they here at this time of day? It was still very early in the morning. Well, there was no harm in asking.

"If you don't mind, could you tell us why you're out this early in the morning as well? Whatever it is must be important, seeing as the sun's barely risen."

Naruto looked over at Sasuki with an inquisitive glance. He had no idea what she was thinking. Maybe this chick was just out picking plants because it was her job. This was a poor town, after all. It must be hard keeping work.

"I'm here gathering herbs for a friend of mine," the boy replied. "You see, they have medicinal properties. He's been hurt, and I'd like to see him get back on his feet soon."

Naruto nodded. The story certainly made sense. "Well, do you mind if we give you a hand, sis?" Naruto asked, taking a glance inside the basket that the boy was carrying. Inside was a pile of similar plants, hinting that this person had been gathering herbs for a long time already.

"It would be appreciated, yes," the boy replied, ignoring the fact that he'd just been called a girl. Often times his androgynous appearance was a benefit when it came to stealth. This was just one of those times. "These plants are called Moringa oleifera. They're a great source of vitamins and minerals that work well in revitalizing the body. If you would like to gather some, you would be doing me a great service."

The boy then took out one of the plants, handing it to Naruto. "Use this for reference when gathering them. Thank you in advance for your help."

* * *

For the next hour or so, Naruto, Sasuki, and the boy gathered enough of the herbs to fill the basket to capacity. Of course, Sasuki had talked Naruto into bringing back a decent sized gathering of their own for the still recovering Kakashi and Naruto, though gathering them for the blonde was more of an afterthought as the Kyuubi's chakra had done its fair share in healing him.

"May I ask you two a question?" the boy asked as he closed the lid on his basket. "You said you were out here to train originally, and you seem to be ninja. Why did you decide to follow the path you're on?"

Naruto was the first to respond, of course. He eagerly started scratching the back of his head and gave the same goofy grin he was famous for back in Konoha as he proclaimed his answer.

"Well, my dream is to become the strongest ninja in my village so that people will start to acknowledge me. Then, I'll become the leader of the village, and earn their respect!"

The boy smirked, nodding his head. "I see, but is there someone...precious to you? Someone you want to protect at all costs?"

It was almost surprising how quickly the boy's expression brightened at that. "Sure do, lots of 'em! A whole village, in fact!" The blonde chuckled at his own words, rubbing the underside of his nose with his index finger as he grinned.

Sasuki allowed herself to look at the blonde for a second or two before turning her gaze back to the boy, who was at this time staring at her, as if asking for confirmation. With a much less noticeable smile, the Uchiha heiress nodded in agreement with the blonde.

"I see. Well then, it seems you two are on the path to gaining real strength. I wish you the best of luck, but I must be going now. My precious person needs my attention as well."

"All right, see ya around, sis!" Naruto said, waving at her with a wide sweep of his arm over his head.

The boy turned back to chuckle. "My name is Haku, and I am a boy. I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling me that."

Sure, Haku had just blown the relatively useless cover he had, but it wasn't like they could associate him back to the hunter nin that had "killed" Zabuza. For now, he was just appreciating the look of shock on the blonde boy's face. The moment was short lived, however, as the girl beside him was quickly motioning him to go back towards the main town. That was probably where they were staying, after all.

* * *

The two made their way back to Tazuna's house, and much to Sasuki's relief Naruto had recovered to the point where the bandages were no longer necessary. He unwound them nearly the second they got back, and the lack of bruises was very reassuring. Shortly after that, Kakashi called the team together to meet out by a grouping of trees.

"Now, this is a very important matter. We have a high risk of being attacked in the next week and I need all of you to be on the top of your game. I assume you all know the tree climbing exercise since I've seen you do it. What about water walking?"

Naruto and Sasuki nodded, and to the surprise of everyone in the group Sakura did as well. When they all looked at her, she blushed and glanced away.

"I spent a lot of time in the shinobi library after I realized how far behind you two I was," she said sheepishly. Naruto smiled widely at this, obviously proud of her.

"Alright then, it seems that your chakra control exercises will have to be left to your own imaginations from now on. You can do anything from the two basic ones to something crazy like – oh I don't know – doing a headstand on top of Senbon while trying not to impale yourself of sink into the ground. Of course, I wouldn't recommend this just yet, seeing as its stupid and all, but who knows."

The three Genin laughed at this. Anyone who said that Kakashi-sensei was too serious had obviously never met him. "So, any suggestions as to where you want to go from here? I'm willing to teach you anything you want."

Naruto turned to Sakura, "Well, what about nature manipulation? I know Sasuki's got a bit down thanks to her fireballs and stuff, but I think it'd be really useful to delve a bit deeper into the stuff. I'd like to figure out how to shoot lightning bolts or make tidal waves or something cool like that."

Sakura averted her gaze from the boy, as if pausing to think. "Do you think I'm ready for something like nature manipulation yet?" she asked, her confidence wavering, "I mean, people typically wait until Chunin rank to figure out how to throw elemental jutsu around. I don't think I have the experience or the chakra for it."

"With your chakra control it'll be a cakewalk, Sakura. Come on, have a little faith in yourself. What do you say, Hatake-sensei? You want to work on a few elemental jutsu today? " the blonde asked with hopeful intonation. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, drawing out a small pack of grayish paper from his backpack. He hadn't been planning on teaching these three anything about nature manipulation quite yet, but it always paid off to be prepared.

"Sure, sounds like a plan. We'll start by figuring out everyone's basic chakra nature types," Kakashi said, waving the hand with the paper in it to draw attention to the item. "What I have here is called chakra paper. Now, the way this works is that you take one of these in each hand. Chakra you channel into your dominant hand is your dominant nature type, and chakra to your other hand is your secondary type."

Sakura nodded, taking two slips of paper from the silver haired man and holding one gently in each hand. It was at that point that a thought sprung to her mind.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei, what would happen if the person using the paper was ambidextrous?"

The way that the Jounin's eye crinkled up into a small 'U' shape denoted that he was smiling, though for what reason that was Sakura couldn't tell. Perhaps he was just proud of her curiosity.

"Well, one of the odd things about how chakra works is that it's composed of both physical and mental energy. A person who is naturally ambidextrous would be strong in both elements that pop up for them, or perhaps they only have one true chakra nature at all. For those people, it would be harder to learn elements other than what popped up simply because of the way their chakra is networked. However, just like you can train yourself to become ambidextrous, you can use elements that aren't your natural affinity. Think of it like this: A person using an element not of their affinity would be like trying to write using your other hand."

Sakura nodded. She always did like learning academics, and chakra theory was always interesting to listen to. This sort of thing was right up her alley. The application of it, though? She'd just have to wait and see.

Channeling the chakra into both her hands was simple enough, though the results were a little perplexing. The sheet in her right hand had crumbled into dust, whereas her left hand felt a tad soggy thanks to the newly wetted slip of paper in it.

"Well, it looks like you're an earth type, Sakura. Doton ninjutsu are primarily defensive, and seeing as there is a relative abundance of the material you'll be manipulating, it's also one of the most useful," Kakashi said.

The pink haired girl looked over to her team mates to observe their results. Of course Naruto would have two identically sliced pieces of paper. Though, what that meant his element was she wasn't aware. He seemed happy about it, at least.

Sasuki was a bit different, carrying a crinkled sheet of paper in one hand and a singed one in the other. The burnt slip in her right had obviously played up to her natural fire affinity, but what was the other one?

"Kakashi-sensei, you know I'm left-handed, right?" Sakura asked with a small smirk as she waved the hand with the moistened paper in it to further emphasize the fact.

"Oh, is that right? Well then, it seems we've got a fairly wide spread of elements among you. Even if I went with secondary affinities, I couldn't pull off teaching any of you the same thing. Now, how do I want to solve this?"

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, about to say that he'd be fine working on his own if that would be any help. After all, he did his best work in huge clearings where multiple shadow clones were at his disposal. However, when the Jounin lifted up his headband to reveal the Sharingan and formed a cross seal, Naruto knew what the man was getting at.

Of course Kakashi would be able to split up the training more effectively with his own shadow clones. That way, all three of them could learn something different and it would only take the man a third of the time to pass on the knowledge.

However, when the smoke cleared, only one clone had been formed. This broke Naruto's train of thought. "Hatake-sensei, wouldn't it be better to make two clones? That way you could teach all of us at the same time."

The silver haired Jounin smirked, the movement of his lips barely visible under his mask. "Yeah, that might work better, but the thing is that I can only really use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu when I have my Sharingan out, seeing as I copied it from you…"

"WHAT!?"

"Did you really think that I'd have gotten a hold of a technique that was already in the forbidden scroll of sealing on my own?"

"Well no, but still…"

"We'll talk about it later. The point is, I need the Sharingan to use this jutsu, and because I'm pretty worn out already, you're only going to get the one clone. So, why don't you and Sakura go with this guy over here and I'll take Sasuki off to do a little Katon training."

"Why do I have to go with the clone and Sakura? Can't I train with Sasuki?"

The sound of cracking knuckles from his rear caused the boy to instinctively whip his head around, his gaze falling on Sakura, who had a look in her eye that seemed to be screaming _"and just what the hell's wrong with me, huh?"_ At this point, Naruto knew better than to get Sakura mad enough that she resorted to violence, so he simply zipped his lip and walked off with the clone and Sakura.

"I'll see you later, Naruto," Sasuki replied, barely stifling a chuckle at his reaction.

Naruto nodded, looking over to Sasuki. "Work hard, I'll see you this afternoon," he responded weakly.

Sasuki chuckled again, this time audibly, "Geez, Naruto. Kakashi-sensei is just taking me out for training. It's not the end of the world. Get a hold of yourself."

With that the raven haired girl smirked, turned away from the group and dashed off with Kakashi.

Naruto looked out at the direction that she had departed from for a few seconds before turning his glance to Sakura and the clone of Kakashi. "So, um, _Hatake-sensei,_ where do you want us to start? Naruto asked as he glanced around.

Kakashi's clone spoke up for the first time, looking to be a bit ill if the visible dark circle under its one eye was any indication, and saying "Do you see that stream over there, Sakura? I want you to go off and try to raise a strand of water out of it using your chakra, and then hold it there for as long as you can."

Sakura looked at him in frustration. No example to work from? No explanation of how to mold her chakra? She'd do better working off a scroll. Regardless, she still felt that she owed it to her teacher to trust him. She walked over to the pond and stuck her hands in, trying to make her chakra like the water that she could feel. The only problem was that she couldn't possibly saturate the water of the entire pond with her small chakra reserves. Maybe if she only focused on a small portion around her hands in a sphere…

"The trick is to make your chakra calm and flowing while spreading it evenly throughout the water. Too much in one spot and it's too hard to control the movement, not enough in one spot and it won't respond to commands at all. Water is an element of balance. Push and pull, Yin and Yang, all that crud," Naruto called out with a chuckle.

Sakura looked over to the boy in surprise. Since when did he know anything about elemental manipulation? He'd suggested learning it because he knew next to nothing about it. Still, she nodded, walking out onto the water as she knew she was able to and trying again. She crouched and placed her hand down under the surface. _"Make your chakra calm, and let it flow with the water. Too much and it will be too hard to control the movements, too little and the water won't respond. Push and Pull, Yin and Yang," _she thought.

She shut her eyes, focusing on her hand as it floated in the clear liquid. Slowly she let her chakra leak out of her palm, flowing with the water. When she felt like she had it, she pulled her hand out slowly. To her surprise, her hand came out completely dry. What had gone wrong?

"Just letting your chakra flow into the water won't do you any good, Sakura," Kakashi said, "You have to mix it in. Making your chakra soluble is the most crucial aspect of Suiton jutsu. You can't just move the water with your chakra, you have to turn the water into your chakra."

Sakura glanced over at him, seeing Naruto at the same time holding up a leave in one hand and focusing his chakra into it. His fist closed, then after a second or two it opened again with a mild gash through it. No matter how much experience she had with this new Naruto, he never ceased to amaze her.

"Here," Kakashi said, walking over to her and abandoning Naruto, who'd probably already received his instruction on what he needed to be doing if the sound of a few shadow clones popping into existence was anything to go off of.

"I'll show you what to do real slowly at first," the silver-haired clone said, dipping one hand into the water and closing his one visible eye in an attempt at focus. Instead of how she'd done it, with her hand emerging totally dry, he let it leak out into the water, creating a visible blue aura around the palm of his hand. Slowly, very slowly, the chakra began mimic to the flow of the water until it finally faded away into the liquid. When the Cyclops pulled his palm back out, an orb of water encased his hand from the area where his palm met his wrist to his fingertips.

Sakura stared at the orb closely, trying to figure out just what he'd done. His chakra was mixed so thoroughly into the water that it was almost like it wasn't there. She was tempted to grab at his wrist and try to get a closer look at it, but she settled for putting one finger onto the liquid. She sent a small pulsation of her own chakra through it, analyzing the structure. The water wasn't controlled by the chakra, and the chakra wasn't controlled by the water. They moved together in unison, closely knit by nonexistent string.

"I think I understand now," Sakura said. Kakashi let the water sink back to the ground and took a step back, waiting for her to try again. The pinkette took this cue and dipped her hand in the water again. Little by little she made progress at a painfully slow rate that probably would have made her blonde team mate thankful he had the Kage Bunshin at his disposal when it came to learning this sort of thing. Still, at this rate she would learn the techniques faster than he did, and by the end of the week she'd probably be working on her basic jutsu.

The pinkette couldn't believe how great of a teacher that her sensei was actually capable of being. For once, he had a sensible answer to each of her questions, no doubt the product of many hard hours of training day after day with the element himself. Though he kept stating that all he'd learned was gleaned from the Sharingan, Sakura had to believe that he had done his own work with the jutsu and the element outside his Sharingan's understanding.

Her progress continued steadily from there, and soon she gained the confidence to step out on the water and try it. After all, if theory was serving her well, she'd be able to control the water more effectively the more contact she had with it.

"Careful Sakura," Kakashi said, seeing that her hold on the surface tension of the water was slipping as her chakra slowly diminished from the new strain of the exercise. She was certainly stubborn, but that may very well be her downfall at this point. Eying Naruto, Kakashi figured that now would be a good time to teach their resident chakra tank a vital skill. It was a common strategy on the field, but with someone like Naruto he was sure that it would grow to be invaluable.

"Oi, Naruto, mind taking a short break and coming over here to help me with something?" the man called, one hand cupped over his mouth. At this, one of the several blondes looked up, and after a second's pause was quick to make his way over. Sakura would assume that this was the original seeing as the others were still hard at work with their leaf splitting exercises.

"What do you need, Hatake-sensei? You need me to rasengan something? Need to get somewhere quick with the Hiraishin? I've got a few kunai set up around here, but Sasuki may get a bit mad if she figures out I'm using that jutsu so soon after getting back on my feet."

Kakashi chuckled, waving his hand in a way that seemed to be telling the boy to calm down. Honestly, the boy really could still get out of hand with his delusions of grandeur.

"No, nothing quite like that. I just need you to pump some chakra into Sakura really quick. She's running a bit low on reserves, and it's about time I taught you the primary duty of a chakra tank when working in the field."

"Chakra…tank? The hell's that supposed to mean?" the blonde asked, quirking his brow.

Sighing, the masked Jounin elaborated. "Well, I guess you could say that anyone with an above average chakra capacity is considered a chakra tank. However, those with abnormally high levels of chakra for their rank are usually the only one's given the rank. Think of it like a specialization. Chakra tanks usually become ninjutsu or fuuinjutsu types, but they're also great in battle for everyone else thanks to the jutsu I'm going to teach you to transfer chakra into Sakura."

Naruto's brow quirked. "I dunno, Hatake-sensei. That sounds like it'd take a fair bit of control, which isn't exactly my strong suit. Messing with someone's chakra reserves is kinda creepy if you ask me."

"Well, luckily for you, most chakra tanks aren't really focused on control in the first place, so the jutsu's as simple as making physical contact and setting a pace of flow to go at. No molding the chakra, no maintaining it, just a steady push."

"What do you mean by 'making physical contact,' Sensei? I mean, the most prominent chakra points on the body are all in pretty sensitive areas. I mean, the stomach, the diaphragm, and…other places."

"There won't be need for that line of thought, Sakura. For this, the shoulders will do. You hear that, Naruto? Give it a shot."

Nodding, the blonde walked behind his pink haired team mate and placed his hands on her shoulders. It took a second or two of focusing before he had what he thought would be a nice pace for someone with decent reserves. What he hadn't counted on, however, was the sudden look of strain on Sakura's face as she was forced to expel as much of the extra chakra as she could.

"Baka, you're giving me too much. We don't all have stupidly large chakra reserves like you, y'know." With that Naruto removed his hand and chuckled. "Alright, well I have the perfect way to build yours up if you're interested. I'll show you. I'd say you've got the hang of water manipulation now. Well, the basics at least."

Kakashi smirked, seeing that the lesson was extending beyond his necessary presence. He'd taught them what they needed to practice, and if they wanted to move on to a more personal training method, he wouldn't get in the way.

"Well then, it appears my chakra is running short for now. I'll be leaving you for now. Hopefully you two can keep going from here on your own. I'll be out for now," the man said, giving a two fingered salute before disappearing into a puff of smoke.

The two Genin took a second to recover from being brushed off so easily, Naruto being the first to recover. Of course, he had a plan for how to spend the rest of the training cooked up almost automatically. The problem was how he was supposed to execute it.

"You know Sakura, if you wanted some help building up your chakra supply, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that might be able to make your work a bit easier."

The offer was tempting, almost instantly grabbing the pinkette's attention as her glance shifted from the spot where Kakashi had been just a second ago to the blonde's present location. He was practically a walking chakra depository as it was, so whatever techniques he'd been using may be of some use to her as well.

Sakura nodded. "Alright, show me this little chakra building technique you've got. If you use them yourself, they seem to work fairly well."

Naruto grinned widely as his eyes shifted from brilliant cerulean to deep azure, a white ring forming around his pupil with two white tomoe horizontal to each other. They began to spin as he held up a piece of paper. As he infused his chakra into it, a twisting work of characters spread across the white scrap. It was a slow crawl to finish the seal, and more than useless in combat if that's what he had to do every time he was going to make one, but a seal master was supposed to come prepared for anything, right?

"Flare your chakra as high as you can make it go," he said calmly. Sakura nodded, forming the ram sign with her hands as a light blue aura slowly wavering into semi-existence around her. Her chakra was almost transparent, and Naruto sighed. Without even looking at her, he grabbed her wrist and wrapped the paper around it, the light adhesive allowing it to stick. After that, he watched as Sakura almost collapsed. Her body was suddenly so heavy, and she felt like her chakra levels were next to nothing.

"Naruto! What the hell did you do!" she screamed, trying to stand.

"I applied a combination gravity and chakra seal. You're experiencing twice the gravity you normally would on top of having about half of your chakra sealed away. This'll make it a lot easier for you to work your chakra up, seeing as you're probably in deep shit if you don't get more of it in your system anyways."

He paused kicking the trunk of a nearby tree firmly enough for a grouping of leaves to shake loose. Grabbing one, he held it out to the girl.

"For now, just focus on keeping this leaf stuck to your forehead. It's a really basic chakra control exercise, but with your reserves right now it'll be more a test of endurance than control."

Trying to stifle her anger, Sakura nodded and pressed the leaf to her forehead. Naruto nodded, sitting in front of her. He watched her, his gaze denoting an air of confidence. Was that confidence in his training technique, or in her? Knowing the blonde, it was probably the latter.

Sakura couldn't understand how Naruto could put her through this sadistic training method and yet be so kind to her at the same time. She held out for all of about ten minutes before the leaf fell, and then promptly hit her knees, gasping for breath with sweat pouring from her face. Naruto smirked, "Alright, now how much do you think your reserves expanded in those ten minutes you were holding the leaf to your head?"

Sakura looked at him incredulously, wondering just what was wrong with him. "What are you talking about? It's impossible to gain any amount of chakra in such a short amount of time!" she argued. Naruto simply smirked, tearing the seal off of her forehead as she shouted at him.

Sakura's eyes went wide at the sudden rush of chakra. Before she could even think about how it was possible to have actually gained more chakra than she lost, Naruto was speaking again.

"It might only be possible to gain chakra at a certain rate through academy exercises, but with stuff like this you're not only expending chakra, but physical energy and mental focus as well because of the increased gravity. Couple that with the fact that the chakra seal gives your body a choice between making more chakra fast or dying from exhaustion and you have one of my favorite ways to train."

Sakura could barely speak. After such a short time of having the level of chakra she did and then feeling it slowly dripping away, everything and more had returned when Naruto had removed that seal. The only way she figured that could happen was…

"I see why you used a percentage on the seal. It's so that when I recover chakra normally over time, a portion of that also gets sealed away. That way, not only will my chakra levels go up, but also the rate at which I recover them. Is that why you have such a huge amount of chakra with so little control? You do this all the time, even now?"

Sakura was silenced by a light flick to her forehead. "You're making it too complicated. Don't think, just do. It's that uneven balance between physical and mental energy that has you in this predicament in the first place," the blonde ordered.

Sakura deadpanned at this. _"Well, this is Naruto we're talking about, right?"_ she thought with a sigh. Naruto quickly re-applied the seal, telling her to go at it once more. It was determined that they would go until her body refused to improve her limits to the point where she could hold the leaf on her forehead anymore. All the way through this Naruto was watching her with his cerulean orbs giving her that same encouraging stare.

Sakura had to admit that she could see how Sasuki had gotten so close to the blonde idiot. He was kind – loud and annoying ninety percent of the time, but kind. He never once uttered a word of instruction to her after his simple "don't think, do" preaching, somehow knowing that she preferred to find her own shortcomings while training with new techniques. At least two hours passed before she felt her reserves go completely dry save for the precious bits of chakra she needed to stay alive.

She collapsed the second Naruto removed the seal, and almost instantly she felt the warmth of his chakra-infused palms on her shoulders as he started to transfuse his own chakra into her system just like before. That same feeling of incredible warmth was almost relaxing to her now sore muscles. "Thanks, Naruto," the pinkette said softly. To her surprise, almost a full minute and a half went by before he had filled her reserves again.

"So," she said as she rolled over to gaze at the clouds, "think you could teach me how to make that seal? And if you would answer me one more question, are you always wearing that kind of a thing?"

She was oddly calm now that she was coming down off the high of his chakra transfusion. Her muscles had relaxed considerably, and she could feel her mind working fresh and sharp. It was almost like sensory overload now that her reserves had probably tripled in size. Though, as much as she hated to admit it, it wasn't that hard to triple such a small amount of chakra to start out with. Naruto and even Sasuki were still miles ahead of her. She wouldn't even start on Kakashi.

"Well, to answer your first question, I most certainly can. I'll even show you how to fiddle with the gravity and the percentage of your chakra it takes. As for the second one, a good ninja never reveals his secrets. It's for me to know and you to find out," the blonde said with a wide grin.

At that moment a kunai erupted from the trees, slicing Naruto thinly across the right shoulder. Consequently, his chakra, which Sakura once thought was massive, proceeded to shoot to levels that made her head hurt just to feel. Suddenly, everything went completely calm. She couldn't feel his chakra at all anymore, it was almost like he wasn't even there, save for the blaring orange pants and blonde hair.

"Quit teasing her, Naruto. She probably can't even feel your chakra now, which just goes to show you how unfairly huge your reserves are," Sasuki said as she stepped out of the area.

"Ne, Sasuki, I was just having a little fun. No need to be so mean about it. Besides, she has a lot more chakra now, which was what we were working on. So I sealed away some chakra so she could feel me do the exercised better. She's really quick on the pickup with elemental manipulation, you know," the blonde replied.

He'd only sealed away _some_ of his chakra? Naruto really was a monster to be able to consider that much chakra _some_, wasn't he? Everything that the villagers said about him was true. He was like some kind of monster. He could rip them all apart with a flick of the wrist if he wanted to.

"_But why _would_ he want to?"_ she thought.

If the villagers are really all that afraid of him, then they knew nothing about her blonde haired team mate. He wouldn't hurt a fly. He'd almost committed Seppuku when he'd very nearly killed that rabbit in the forest, and they weren't even samurai! There was no good reason to be afraid of him, nor was there any good reason to hate him like some of the older men of the village did.

"Naruto, why is it that I can't feel your chakra anymore? And why is it that in the village people hate you so much? When I felt it, your chakra wasn't anything worth hating," Sakura questioned.

Naruto recoiled as if she'd struck a nerve. "What are you talking about, Sakura? No one in Konoha hates me. I'm gonna be the Hokage, remember?" the blonde defended. His tone was totally unconvincing, and his body language practically screamed 'I'm a liar,' what with his nervous sweat, shut eyes, and hands waving back and forth in front of him in a defensive manner.

"Naruto, I remember one time back when I was a little girl. The villagers had formed a crowd in the street I was walking down with my mother. I could hear the angry shouts, so I walked over to see what was going one. They had surrounded you and were throwing garbage at you. I wanted to say something, but then one of them came out and started hitting you. I ran away before it got too violent, and my mother told me to never associate myself with you. So don't lie to me by saying that you aren't hated in that village, because you and I both know the truth."

The blonde's expression took a dramatic turn from false happiness to an admittance of defeat as he glanced over at Sasuki. She nodded, leaving. Naruto would prefer to talk about this alone. "How do you remember that? How does anyone remember something like that and then act the way you did to me in the academy?" he asked quietly when they were out of earshot.

"I…I don't know. It was wrong, because I look at you now and see that you never deserved something like that. I guess it's because I wanted to fit in? I know, it's shallow and stupid to say something like that, but it's true. I saw Ino and all the others doing the same thing, so I joined them in picking on you. I…I'm sorry, Naruto. Forgive me?"

The blonde smirked. "For what?" he said in a tone that conveyed that he'd completely forgiven her. Sakura looked at him with both joy and astonishment. "But, I suppose I should answer your other question. You can't feel my chakra right now because of a…flaw, so to speak…in the way people can sense it. You see, the way your body senses chakra is that it takes your own signature and compares it to everything else around you. Everything has chakra, but you don't feel every individual blade of grass, every leaf, or every drop of water, do you? Well, that's because their chakra is so low that your body just doesn't register that it's there.

The exact opposite applies in my case. My chakra is so high that your body doesn't even register what I have as chakra anymore. It won't either, until we further develop your abilities. My theory is that it's a self-defense mechanism in your body, which is why a Genin hasn't ever been hospitalized from the killer intent of a Jounin. You couldn't really feel Zabuza once that fight got going either, could you?"

Sakura nodded at the explanation. It made sense, really. Once a chakra source became too high for a sensor to handle, their senses just blocked that signature out to save the sensor from harm. She had a new goal in mind now; to keep training until she could sense the blonde at his full power.

"As for the other question…have you ever heard the legend of the Kyuubi?"

* * *

Sakura sat wide-eyed at the end of Naruto's story. He was a Jinchuuriki, and of the Kyuubi no less. The Fourth had made the ultimate sacrifice in order to seal the beast away. More importantly, he'd sealed it away inside his own son.

She'd just been told an S-Rank secret of the village, and she was sure that seeing Naruto treated the way he was in Konoha would be so much harder to handle now. Naruto had even informed her of the most often used cliché to describe his predicament. He was a scroll used to seal away the kunai, and not the proverbial kunai itself. The very news that some people could get the two confused startled her.

"Can it…he…talk to you?" she asked.

"The Kyuubi? Oh yeah, we have dinner dates every third Wednesday of the month inside my mindscape which I redesigned for him to look like a big open field with a happy landscape. We're the best of pals. Heck, if he were a chick I'd probably have wild monkey sex with him," the blonde said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I haven't tried to talk to him in thirteen years, and I don't have any desire to start a relationship now," he followed up after a short pause. "He gives me chakra, I stay alive for the both of us, that's as far as I understand the rules." Sakura nodded. That was probably the safest way to deal with something like the Kyuubi.

Naruto was relieved at how well Sakura had taken this all. There had been so much doubt in his mind as to how she'd react. A lot of him thought that the second she heard that he was a Jinchuuriki, she would freak out just like everyone else. She'd call him a demon and run, then when the mission was over tell her parents all about it. Then the secret would spread until finally everyone in the village hated him for one reason or another. Instead, she was totally calm about all of this. "You're being really understanding about all this. I thought for sure you'd be a little surprised. Anything wrong?" he asked.

Sakura had to admit that she would normally be freaking out at Naruto by now. However, whether it was that his chakra contained nothing but good or that the training had somehow had changed the way she reacted to him for a given period of time, she was totally calm. "Nothing's wrong. I don't know, I probably would have smacked you one by now in a normal situation. But, you have to admit, this situation is anything but normal," she replied. Curiosity suddenly worked its way into her head, driving her next question. "So…is there a mark where the seal is?"

Naruto nodded, focusing his chakra and lifting his shirt to reveal the spiral patterned seal. "This would be the mark of the Shiki Fuuin. Pretty neat, huh?" he asked. Sakura nodded, taking in not only the intricate chakra weaving in the seal itself, but also the completely healed state of Naruto's torso. He hadn't been lying when he said he'd healed. Sakura reached out her fingers to trace the swirl on the seal, causing Naruto to chuckle. So he was ticklish there, was he?

"You know, you still haven't gotten your revenge on us for the bell test," Sakura replied. Naruto's eyes gleamed at this and a shiver went down Sakura's spine. Something told her she'd just given him an idea that she'd live to regret. She stood, and he dropped his shirt back down. "Sasuki and Kakashi-sensei are probably waiting for us inside. Let's go."

"Oh, I'll head inside alright. I just want to stay out here for a while and…train a bit more," Naruto said, that twinkle still remaining in his eye. Sakura couldn't get out of there fast enough, moving as fast as her chakra depleted state would let her. "I swear Naruto, I'll beat you to death if you try anything stupid while we're still on this mission."

Naruto drew out a three bladed kunai, a smirk adorning his features as he spun it on his index finger. This plan would be very pleasing, to say the least. For now though, he did need to practice his Rasengan. He quickly set to work, forming a battalion of clones. At his command, each of them began to spin and concentrate chakra in their palms.

* * *

"Sasuki, could I talk to you in private for a while?" Sakura asked, looking at Kakashi from across the room. The silver haired Jounin didn't move; his eyes still on the little orange book in front of him. Sakura sighed. "Tampons, birth control, menstrual cycle, PMS."

Kakashi couldn't flee the scene fast enough.

After a brief laugh between the two, Sakura looked up to her raven haired companion. "I want to talk to you about Naruto," she said. Sasuki looked at her curiously. She knew that Naruto had told her about his 'house guest,' but to come to her to talk about it was a strange move, even on her part.

"Look, Sakura, if this is about the 'you-know-who,' then Naruto is really-"

"I want to know how you feel about him."

Sasuki was taken completely off-guard by all of this. It was just last night that she and Naruto had conversed about the exact same subject. "Well, I-"

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, it's just…the Naruto I saw today was a lot different than the one I made him out to be. He was kind, intelligent, not obnoxious in the slightest. I was wondering if that's the kind of guy that you liked. I won't lie, Sasuki. All the girls have been jealous of you at one point or another for your looks and talent, and maybe I was so occupied with my social life that I didn't train as hard as I should have, but you were always at the top of the popularity charts. You were perfect. And, well…I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you did like Naruto that I was wrong about how love works."

Sasuki, in a final attempt to get a complete sentence out of this conversation, looked Sakura directly in the eyes. "Are you saying that you like Naruto now?"

Sakura's sullen expression said it all. "I don't know," she replied, "maybe it's just the first time I've met a decent guy, or maybe it is because I like him. He's different, you know?"

"I know just how different he is. I was the first one he ever told about the Kyuubi. I was the one who gave him his first kiss, just like he gave me mine. I was the one he almost killed himself trying to protect in that fight with Zabuza. I know Naruto. And personally, you don't deserve him. No one really does, but he's told me that he has feelings for me, and because of that I'd do anything for him. He said we'd sort things out when we got back to Konoha, so the second we do get back I'm telling him that I love him, because I do."

Sakura's eyes went wide as the Uchiha spoke. "I understand. Don't worry, I won't try anything. I'm sorry if I made you think that I was going to go after him. I just…I think I finally understand what I've been doing wrong for so long now. When we get back, I'm going to put my all into my training. I'll find someone that loves me for me like I'm sure Naruto does for you."

Sasuki smiled. "I'm sorry if I got a little intense there. It's just that…I really do love him."

Sakura nodded. "I know, I can see it in your eyes. I wish you both the best, and if he ever hurts you call me up. I'll make sure he regrets it. Beaten on a daily basis by villagers or not, nothing is scarier than a group of pissed off kunoichi with the urge to castrate."

Sasuki masked her initial terror at the thought of the crowd of angry harpies that would make it impossible for Naruto to secure a family, the one thing he ever really wanted. "Uh…maybe not castrate. No matter how badly he screws up…all he really wants is a family. The Hokage thing is just for respect, y'know. So that…people won't be so afraid of him. If he's voted Hokage, his position gives him a lot of opportunities to appear in public, make people listen. And if they have any common sense, they'll grow to love him as much as they do the old ma…Hokage-sama."

Sakura laughed, "Naruto's rubbing off on you, show some respect for your superiors Miss Uchiha," she said in a mock-proper tone.

"Only if you keep your hands off my man, pinky," Sasuki playfully shot back.

"Now, now ladies, there's plenty of me to go around. Seriously, I've got shadow clones."

The two kunoichi turned to see Naruto enter the house with a grin on his face. Sakura blushed in embarrassment. However, Sasuki had enough sense to ask the obvious question as the blonde walked towards them slowly.

"Naruto-kun…what are you doing with that rope?"

"Come now, Sasuki-chan. You're an Uchiha. You should know how this works. You tie me to a log and deprave me of ramen all night, and I get…" he said, his voice indicating he wanted an answer.

"Sakura, run," Sasuki said, fear dripping into her voice with every small step the blonde took.

"Why?"

"One word. Revenge."


	10. Training

**Last Updated: 8/7/2013 || I know two chapter updates in one day after over a month of no edits and nearly a year of no new content doesn't quite mean anything at this point, but I do plan on getting through all of this quite soon. Wait for me, ne?**

* * *

Sasuki couldn't explain the odd feeling of déjà vu she'd developed when she and Sakura had burst out of Tazuna's house screaming bloody murder as their blonde team mate chased them into the forest with the coil of ninja wire. All she knew was that she had experienced this same situation before, and the outcome hadn't been all that pleasant. The only thing on her mind now was that she had to keep running and hope that whatever Naruto had planned was free of any psychological torment like they had apparently caused him, if his shouting was anything to judge by.

"I WAS TIED TO A LOG! A FREAKING LOG! IF THAT WASN'T BAD ENOUGH, YOU ALL WENT OUT FOR RAMEN! YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE RAMEN! THIS IS YOUR PUNISHMENT FOR SUCH A CRIME! DON'T EVEN TRY TO RUN AWAY FROM ME! KARMA WON'T LET YOU ESCAPE MY REVENGE!"

They were hopping from tree to tree as he shouted this, and a slight change in atmosphere sent Sasuki's sixth sense haywire. It was a slight change, and nearly invisible to human recognition, but Sasuki had felt it before. It was exactly the same as when Naruto fought Zabuza. She knew now that something was definitely wrong. A quick glance over to Sakura revealed that this feeling was not misplaced. The pinkette had a seal inscribed on the white dot of her dress, the black ink plainly visible. She looked back at Naruto, wondering when he'd marked her with it, but now wasn't the time for questions.

"Sakura, strip!" Sasuki shouted.

The pinkette looked over with eyes the size of dinner plates. "What!? Are you in on his plan too?" Sakura couldn't believe that she was hearing Sasuki tell her to take off her clothes. This was either part of Naruto's plan, or Sasuki had to be out of her mind.

"No, there's a seal. I recognize it from his ku…"

"My kunai?"

The sudden appearance of the blonde, Fuuingan blazing brightly for all to see, sent both girls on full alert. Sasuki made a move to jump away from him while not taking her eyes away from the enemy, and the much less composed Sakura just stared in awe at his sudden appearance. However, before they could even react, they found themselves securely tied to the trees, arms above their heads, wrists and ankles tied together, and totally open to whatever plan the blonde had.

"Naruto, stop it!" Sakura cried, struggling against the bindings. "Just what are you going to do anyway? Even you aren't this perverted!" Truth be told, she still suspected that Sasuki had been in on Naruto's plan, and that somehow it was very important to get her naked and restrain her. Now, these aren't the thoughts that she would normally admit to, but when her brain had adrenaline pumping through it like she'd won a lifetime supply in the lottery, thinking rationally became pretty hard.

"Oh, did I ever say I would do anything of a sexual nature? Rape over a bowl of ramen or two just doesn't seem right. No, I have a much better punishment," the blonde said, a mischievous twinkle lit up his eyes as his fingertips began to flow with chakra. Sasuki didn't know why, but she cringed at the air that Naruto was giving off.

He quickly made a single Kage Bunshin, sending it over to Sakura with a menacing look on its face. The two Narutos sent their fingertips dancing over the flesh of the girls, all the while grinning his usual wild grin. The faces of the two girls contorted before they both threw their heads up in the air as best they could and burst out laughing.

The tickling continued for what seemed like hours. Both girls' throats burned from the nearly nonstop laughter, their skin was bright red under their arms, behind their knees, on their feet, their stomachs, and under their chins from the wacky form of torture that the blonde seemed to love so much. When he finally stopped, both girls were completely drenched in sweat, panting heavily.

"You…are…so…evil," Sasuki panted to the real Naruto. The blonde grinned ferociously in her direction.

"But that's what makes me so adorable," he retorted, cutting her free of the ninja wire. Sasuki maneuvered about a bit, shifting her weight from side to side and cracking joints. "Come on, you know that the idea would be hilarious if you weren't the victim, admit it," Naruto said, grinning as he repeatedly poked her on the shoulder.

"Shut it. Let's head back to the house. We have to start guarding the bridge while Tazuna and the other workers finish it," the Uchiha said. Naruto nodded, then glanced over to Sakura, who was just now being untied by the Kage Bunshin. The second she was free she kicked the clone so hard in the crotch that there was a delay it its dissipation. Naruto cringed as the memories hit him.

"I remember everything they experience, you know," he said to her with an incredulous look on his face. Sakura glared at him in contempt, cracking her knuckles as if she was about to pass divine judgment. Naruto couldn't jump after Sasuki fast enough. When they arrived back at Tazuna's home, Kakashi was waiting for them.

"Well it's about time. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?" he asked, his voice the same easy-going drawl that it usually was.

The utter irony of the situation had Naruto rolling on the floor, guffawing at the memory of the very recent event. Sakura and Sasuki both looked at him, a deadpan expression adorning their features and a massively disproportionately sized drop of sweat drooping across the side of their faces. "You're kidding me. Hatake-sensei, _you_ were waiting for _us?_ Wait, wait. How long was it, a few minutes? A half an hour? Oh this is so rich," Naruto exclaimed as he continued his antics.

"Oh, we would have been on time if it hadn't been for a certain idiot on our team who went off on some psycho grudge-mission to avenge his chance lost at a bowl of freaking ramen," Sakura replied, poison dripping from her tone as she glared at Naruto out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey, it's not my fault that you two made it so easy. I mean, really. Running away? You could have used a Shunshin or something. Given me less time to tag you with those tracer seals," Naruto replied, suddenly aware of his surroundings.

"Can we please just go to this God-forsaken bridge already?" Sasuki asked, arms crossed and a look of indifference on her face. Her cycloptic teacher nodded, and they were off with Tazuna to restart their mission.

* * *

The first day of guard duty started off boring and ended up only getting worse from there. Naruto sat against a rock, his hands over his stomach as he looked up into the hazy sky. "Hatake-sensei, I'm so bored. Isn't there anything to _do_ around this crummy old bridge?"

The silver haired Jounin smirked at the outburst, wondering just what Naruto thought they were doing. Although he recovered quickly, he wasn't any stronger than he was when they'd first fought Zabuza. Albeit he'd done remarkably well, and definitely wouldn't get in the Jounin's way if they worked together, but Zabuza could still crush Naruto in a one on one fight. That was something he wouldn't allow to happen.

"Why don't you train a little bit? You said you were a wind user, and there's plenty of air around here, so work with your element for a bit," Kakashi replied. Naruto nodded, walking off somewhere around the bridge to have clones begin their exercises while he focused on something else. He knew that Kakashi was just trying to distract him, and it wasn't like there weren't things he could be working on instead of complaining about how bored he was; his Fuuingan instantly came to mind.

He still hadn't figured out how to activate and deactivate it on command quite yet, and he wasn't going to ever get it if he never focused on it. He shut his eyes, thinking back to what he had done when he first activated it. That would have been around the time of the Yondaime Festival, during his fight with Sasuki. No, it was before that, during Sasuki's fight with Kiba. She had started making hand seals and everything had just tinted blue. It was triggered, not activated. Wait, it couldn't be that simple, could it?

He tested his theory quickly, scrawling out a simple seal, one he didn't even need his bloodline to write, and looked at it intensely. His eyes started to itch, he blinked, and everything around him was tinged with blue. "I need to have a seal around to use it," the blonde stated aloud, though nobody had heard him. Of course, there was probably reason for doubt to the theory. A seal he didn't know was there, a complicated one he didn't have an understanding of, obscure things like the tenketsu of a person, all of these wouldn't be likely candidates for activation keys. Though, perhaps if he trained enough he could learn to use them.

This one facet to the technique, an understanding of sorts, made it all come together. The Fuuingan was a Kekkei Genkai of understanding that required the user to become more insightful about the crafting of seals before it would give you power. Because Naruto understood hand seals, he could use them as a trigger, and because he understood that chakra flowed through your tenketsu when you used it, he could see how the movement worked. The same idea applied to the way it 'copied' jutsu. When you looked at the tenketsu of someone when they cast the Jutsu, you knew how they did it, so you knew the basics behind it. Not much else though, seeing as everyone used their chakra differently, so nobody had the same way of doing the same technique.

Naruto couldn't believe that old cliché was right all along. Knowledge was power in this case. He shut his eyes, and stopped the chakra flow to them. Deactivation was a conscious thing, it wasn't triggered. If it wasn't a drain on his chakra, he could probably keep it on all the time.

"Now there's an idea," he said with a wild grin. If he could somehow incorporate his Fuuingan into everyday use where it felt just as natural to use it as it felt to not use it, there were a lot of things that could happen. On the downside, he might not be able to shut it off. On the upside, it might give him a sense as to where seals were all the time. No one could hide them from him like Kakashi did during the bell test. No more running into explosive tag traps, no more wondering what his opponents were capable of, the idea was great. He whipped out the sealing tag he wrote for the first activation, and his vision tinted blue again. Things were about to get interesting.

* * *

It had been four hours since the time they'd started to guard the bridge, and Sakura was bored. It didn't seem like anyone was going to show up, so why were they still here. She sighed and looked over at Naruto. He'd had his Fuuingan going all day, and she could never quite look him in the eye because of it. She didn't know why, but when he looked at her with his eyes like that it made her skin crawl.

"Naruto, I know how much you love your Fuuingan and all, but could you please turn it off. It's kinda creepy-looking after a while. Like you're staring through me," Sakura said.

"But I am staring right through you. Well, it's more like I'm looking at your tenketsu," Naruto said.

"Tenketsu?" Sakura asked. She'd vaguely heard of them one point in the academy, but most of her knowledge on this particular subject had faded. After all, it wasn't like she'd ever have to use them, and the Hyuuga that had come in to explain them in-depth had bored her to the point where she'd almost fell asleep in class for the first time in her life.

"Think of them as seals, the same kind of thing as my gravity seals or explosive tags. The only difference is that instead of making it harder to move or exploding, these seals are written into your chakra circulatory system, and allow your chakra to move throughout your body. They're actually the reason why if you gain a lot more chakra without practicing your control, you lose your ability. They grow as your chakra supply does, like stretching out a rubber band. You'd have to let what feels like a lot less chakra through when you have more flowing through your system at one time," Naruto replied.

He'd essentially summed up what Iruka had needed to call a guest instructor from the Hyuuga clan infor an hour to explain in just a few sentences. He had to be leaving something out. "It can't be that simple," she said, crossing her arms in disbelief. This was Naruto, no matter how strong he was there was no way he could possibly be intelligent.

"But it is," Naruto said. With his next blink, his eyes changed back to their normal cerulean color. Sakura looked at him with curiosity.

"What is that thing you do with your eyes anyways? I mean, it looks a little bit like Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan. Is it a type of variation of it?"

This question sent Naruto into a laughing fit. "No, it's not the Sharingan. In fact, it's not anything that we learned about in the academy. It's called the Fuuingan, and it has the power to see, understand, and craft seals. My combat ability isn't what it improves, not directly. It lets me understand my opponent, know the way they'll move and act. After that, it's all a matter of using the resources I have available to beat them."

Sakura looked at Naruto quizzically. Again, she'd vaguely heard about seals in the academy when discussing the Fourth Hokage, but they were supposed to be like flower arrangement; more artsy than useful unless you took them to the extremes. Poisons from the flowers to attack the body, which was something she suspected that Ino had been studying to get the one-up on her, and something called Space-Time Ninjutsu from seals. If Naruto could use his eyes to make them useful, then he must have come from a clan of one form or another. The thought of Naruto being a Shinobi that could warp the very fabric of space and time made her laugh in her head.

"Well, it certainly sounds interesting, but beyond the training seals you gave me I can't really think of any use for them," the girl replied.

Naruto grinned, "Well, I'm sure it'll get more interesting to use the more I study it. I mean, I can use the Hiraishin with them, and that's pretty cool. Who knows, maybe I could improve upon the basics, make practicality my style with a whole bunch of multi-use seals. It's all about being ready for the situation you're in, even if it's only letting you train at a better rate than normal to prepare for a fight," the blonde said as he removed his orange jacket revealing the plethora of gravity seals, "I redoubled my training regimen a while back. I can't quite get the seals themselves to go past two and a half times gravity yet, but I make up for the lack of quality with a bit of quantity."

Saying Sakura realized that would be more than just a bit of an understatement. There had to be at least ten of them scattered across his torso alone, and something told her that the chakra inhibiting seals were just under his shirt as well, seeing as she had been able to sense his chakra lately. She was starting to lose hope of ever being able to do so when he wasn't holding anything back. For now though, she enjoyed the feel of his chakra wrapping around everything in his presence in a warm embrace. She knew that with the bat of an eye he could spike his killer intent into it and change it into an aura of suffocation instead of protection, but that didn't change the fact that his very presence was invigorating to everyone working on the bridge. They were working faster than ever before, according to Tazuna.

* * *

The rest of the day dragged on just as slowly as it had started. Naruto had been able to blow through most of it training, but Kakashi had warned him to keep his reserves up just in case Zabuza and his Hunter-Nin accomplice returned sooner than they thought. Naruto had begrudgingly agreed and dispelled all the Kage Bunshin he'd been using to practice the finishing touches he was putting on a one-handed rasengan with a couple, and he'd had the rest experimenting with various seals. Of course, not to be a slacker, he'd trained his body and reflexes. He wasn't going to be caught with his pants down like he had before in his fight with Zabuza.

Sakura had put some more effort into getting the simpler Suiton Jutsu down, and had made some significant progress. She'd gotten a good handle on her 'Suiton: Mizurappa,' as well as the very similar version of it 'Suiton: Teppodama.' Both were extremely similar in the idea that they simply shot water from the mouth. The only real difference was that the Teppodama was a short, orb-shaped burst whereas the Mizurappa was a long burst of the liquid. What she was really having trouble with was the Suijinheki. She found it easier to use if she used water from around her instead of out of her mouth, so she decided to do it that way, but the control was hard to keep up. With the Teppodama or the Mizurappa it was okay if air got into it, but if there was air in the defensive wall then the attack would pass right through without stopping. She had to keep it dense and compact.

Sasuki hadn't really picked up anything new to train in, but she'd decided to work the basics and improve her various Katon techniques as well as bolstered her speed and strength. She couldn't help but look at Naruto and wonder what kind of training she'd have to do with her Sharingan once it woke up. She'd have to talk to Kakashi about it, then maybe ask Naruto if he could teach her the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Right now though, it didn't seem like there was much else she could do to improve her combat abilities in just a week. Maybe she'd ask Naruto for the instruction tomorrow. He'd spent a little too much time talking to Sakura today.

When Kakashi had brought his team home, he put his crutches by the door and limped over to his bed. He'd been oxygen starved, and his Sharingan had put a drain on his body. The end result hadn't been pretty. He still couldn't walk without a rather painful limp, and held more than a little envy towards Naruto for the rate at which he'd recovered. After chiding himself for starting to think like an old man, he laid down in his bed and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

The other Genin had stayed up and enjoyed a nice dinner. Sasuki had sat unusually close to Naruto at that meal, and even after Tsunami had started to clear the table when Tazuna and Inari had left to play a game of Shogi and Sakura had left to train a bit more with her Suiton Jutsu. Naruto warned her not to try too hard. "Even if you have more chakra now than you did before despite having your seals on, you can still die from chakra exhaustion."

"I know," Sakura said as she smiled and ducked out the door. Naruto looked to the side and smirked at Sasuki. "How did your training go today? Work on anything interesting?" he asked. Sasuki shook her head no, then reached up and cupped Naruto's cheek before leaning in to kiss him gingerly on the lips.

"I missed you today. Even if you tied me to a tree," she said. The blonde scratched the back of his head nervously. He knew he'd more or less ignored her on the bridge today. It wasn't like he didn't want to spend time with her, but he knew he'd get distracted by her if he got too caught up in her presence. Her chakra had changed since her days in the academy. It pushed things away from her, stabbing at whatever came close with an icy chill. But now it would curiously prod at others, testing its limits. She was starting to trust people.

"Well, are we even, or are you going to try to get back at me?" Naruto asked. Sasuki smiled a bit.

"As much as I'd love to tie you up, I don't think Kakashi would approve of my personal torture methods. Or maybe he would," she said with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Somebody's been reading a little too much Icha-Icha in her spare time. You know me, I'm not the kinda guy who would do that until marriage," the Namikaze retorted as he poked her playfully in the shoulder.

"Then let's get married," the Uchiha replied, her voice trailing off. Naruto's eyes widened in awe at her suggestion. They weren't even eighteen yet, and she was talking about marriage. And yet her eyes conveyed nothing but an absolute devotion and seriousness. Had she thought this over?

"Sasuki-chan…what do you mean? Aren't we a little too young?" Naruto asked. He couldn't understand her sudden request. Well, he could venture a guess, to be honest. She was alone, desperate, willing to latch onto the best chance she had at love. She missed her clan, and wanted a family back more than anything else in the world. People would call that clingy or needy and call it a deterrent. But what was so wrong with it? He was clingy and needy too. He only wanted love, and if someone was willing to give him any at all, he'd return however much they asked. Was it so wrong for two people to cling to one another if they both needed it?

"Naruto-kun, I mean it. You're a Namikaze, I'm an Uchiha. Bloodlines aren't dominant or recessive. I've seen it in the Hyuuga and Uchiha relatives I've had. Some developed the Sharingan, others the Byakugan. Both clans get preserved and live on, I resurrect my clan, you get a family. We all win."

He had to admit, she'd honestly thought this out. They could be together. He could have a family for the first time in his entire life, and she would have hers back. The only snag was that the council may not approve. Despite his origins, they still saw him as a demon.

"What about the council? They don't like me at all. The Kyuubi…"

"The council is my bitch, and once they get a look at your eyes then they'll be yours too. Fluffy prisoner or not, we'll give them no choice. We can make this work," Sasuki replied, her hand covering his. "I was going to wait until after we got back home to tell you this, but I can't. Naruto-kun, I love you. Please, just say yes."

Naruto sat there in silence for a moment, just staring into the Uchiha's dark eyes. Everything he wanted was just in his grasp. He loved her too. He had since she'd defended him from Sakura and Ino at the Yondaime festival. "Yes," he finally said. Sasuki grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him into a passionate kiss.

She smiled as tears welled in her eyes and her entire face flushed red. She couldn't believe it. He'd said yes. It wasn't even a particularly romantic moment when she'd asked. There was no love in the air, just two Shinobi on a mission that they shouldn't have even been assigned to. It was like they'd always heard in The Academy. Shinobi life was too unpredictable to live with regrets and not take chances. Seize the day and the night as well. Don't let life pass you by. They could make their own romance if they had to.

"Thank you," she replied through the short breaks they took for breath. Naruto was uncomfortable with being pulled into something, so he cupped her cheek and wrapped an arm around her waist. Sasuki acknowledged it and released his shoulders, snaking her arms around his neck as she probed her tongue around his bottom lip.

* * *

Sakura could still feel them from her training ground almost a half mile away from the house. Their chakra was so intimate, wrapping in intricate spirals and patterns around each other as they let it leak into one another. It was almost erotic, the way she felt it. She'd never felt anything like that. Her parents weren't Shinobi, so she wasn't sure if they shared the same connection. She was almost a little jealous. For about the thousandth time since she'd been exposed to the relationship that she'd playfully dubbed "NaruSasu," she found herself questioning why she could never have a bond like that with someone. Had she missed something along the way? Something about being out of the village for the first time, not being able to get away from her team had shown her what kind of people were with her, and it gave her time to reflect.

Naruto was never the strongest one in the academy, but from what she'd heard from Sasuki he'd started using his techniques in more than just one way. His clones weren't just training dummies anymore, they trained for him. That had sped up his learning of the Rasengan and Hiraishin, the two jutsu that he'd used against Zabuza during their fight, and he was still picking apart their mechanics to find uses for them. Now with his nature manipulation, who knew what he was going to come up with? Number One Unpredictable Ninja of Konoha was an accurate description indeed.

Sasuki was the one who sat at the back of the class, cold and stoic, and still got the top scores. She never participated in a slumber party, never responded to cat-calls from the other male academy students, and never seemed to want a friend, but around half way through their last year in the academy she had somehow become closer to the blonde. She didn't understand it at first, but when she saw the way they interacted with each other and she'd asked Sasuki her questions, she thought she could understand a little.

Kakashi was a bit on the goofy side for her tastes, but he had a good heart and he would protect her and everybody else. Though sometimes there was a sadness in his eyes, and the names he'd mumbled in his sleep on the way to Tazuna's house had given her a clue. She'd caught him by the memorial one day, and read the tablet he'd been looking at. Obito Uchiha, probably the one who'd given him that Sharingan. Knowing the Uchiha, Obito had probably died on a mission and gave it to Kakashi as a last-ditch effort of some sort. It brought a twinge of pity to the surface when she thought about it.

She was surprised when Naruto's chakra shot up to levels she could no longer detect, and Sasuki's were right behind him. It shook her from her reverie as her head shot to the side as she wondered what was happening to the two. She shook it off and continued her training.

* * *

Naruto didn't know how, but they'd gotten to the bedroom in one way or another. He was sure that nothing inappropriate was going to happen, but at the same time he felt an almost primal sensation going through him. The two of them had broken off from one another, and Naruto was looking into her eyes again. His own were red, pupils slit, and a light red aura was currently enveloping his form. Consequently, the same aura was surrounding the raven-haired girl.

"Can I?" Naruto asked. Sasuki nodded and lean in to peck him on the lips. It was as if somehow she knew what he'd been asking.

"I won't stop you."

Naruto nodded, pumping chakra into his elongated canines. "I swear to God if I ever hear the word vampire used to describe me I'm going to stab myself in the head with more than a couple kunai," he whispered.

"And if I'm ever compared to some whiny, depressed, anti-social teenager who gives herself over to a guy she barely knows then I'll make sure the accuser shares your intended fate," Sasuki retorted with a smirk.

Naruto didn't stall after that, sinking his teeth into her collarbone. She let out a small yelping sound before the influence of the Kyuubi's chakra mixed with their teenage hormones and the adrenaline of the situation. It had come to a cusp as the two of them proceeded in forming the 'mate mark,' that had gained such an infamous name amongst the Inuzuka and other animal-affiliated clans when a particular novel series had become insanely popular. Sasuki cringed a bit in pain as Naruto bit into her. She returned the gesture, pumping her chakra into the blonde as well.

It started out barely noticeable, but soon the chakra swirling around them escalated to new heights, shooting far beyond what either of them though they'd be capable of alone. They doubted anyone in the surrounding area could even feel it, seeing as just being in that sort of environment had caused all the seals on Naruto and Sasuki to burst as their capacity was reached and surpassed.

When it was all over, the two were down on the ground panting and covered in sweat. "Those seals took time to make, you know," Naruto said with a chuckle.

Sasuki looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye. "Yeah, but it was worth it. And it's not like you can't make them again in a few seconds with those eyes of yours."

Naruto grinned. "Speaking of eyes, I think that little burst of my chakra might have done something to yours," the blonde chuckled, holding up a kunai to show her reflection. She brought up a hand to run over her bottom lashes.

"My Sharingan?"

* * *

**Yeah, leaving that marriage bit in there. It was better executed than I'd originally thought. Regardless, things are changing. Oh yes, they are. Kehehe. **


	11. Trauma

**Oh yes, I am very, very evil.**

**Last Updated: 8/8/2013**

* * *

The sunlight of early morning peeked in from the window in the bedrooms, stirring Sasuki. Her eyes shut tighter in annoyance, and then shot open unceremoniously. She turned her head to see the blonde beside her still sleeping peacefully. She slipped from his sleep-loosened grip around her waist with relative ease before adorning herself with her usual ninja attire and went downstairs where Kakashi and Sakura had already gathered.

"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked with a slightly amused tone. He had obviously been informed of the previous night's sleeping arrangements by Sakura. Either that, or he'd been aware of what was going on beforehand. There was a lot of chakra in the air when Naruto and her had that encounter.

"Sleeping," she said, matter-of-factly. The Jounin wasn't going to get away with butting into her personal life. "Come on, let's go. He'll get up eventually," Sasuki replied, hoping that she could avoid any and all teasing on the matter. And luckily, with no more than a nod from Kakashi, the three ninja and Tazuna departed for the bridge.

On the walk over, Kakashi took the lead, Tazuna sandwiched in between him and the girls who were bringing up the rear.

"Zabuza and the Hunter-nin are supposed to show up soon. Do you think we'll be ready?" the pinkette asked. Sasuki turned her head to face her and eyed the Haruno girl with an observational glance. She proceeded to form the ram seal, expelling chakra and disrupting the girl's training seals. The sudden rush of chakra and light, feathery feeling from having her limiters removed almost overwhelmed her. Her entire body felt foreign to her now, and she understood why Sasuki had done it.

"You haven't taken those off all week, have you?" Sasuki asked accusingly. Sakura shook her head.

"I guess I should have taken some time to get used to the improvements, huh?" she asked sheepishly.

"I'm sure you'll be fine by the time Zabuza rears his ugly head, but I wouldn't be against you doing some light training just to break in your new shoes, and maybe a little work on your chakra control just so you can regain your bearings. It's probably slipped a lot now that you have more chakra to use."

"Are you wearing seals still?" Sakura asked the other girl. Sasuki shook her head, much to the pinkette's amazement.

"I'm just suppressing my chakra a bit so that it's not constantly leaking out of me and revealing my presence to anyone who can sense it like a certain blonde. Why, can you still not sense me?"

"No, I can, it's just that it felt like you were holding back a lot is all," Sakura replied. Sasuki shook her head. Of course Sakura could sense her now. It wasn't a matter of the girl gaining some incredible power and was comparing herself to others to determine their strength. It was that Naruto had sent her chakra levels so low with those darned seals of his that she was probably hypersensitive to everything around her. She wouldn't be affected by the typical inability to sense chakra levels beyond her own threshold because she'd spent so long becoming accustomed to sensing things with limited chakra that the new boost was improving her sensory aptitude. The change was probably going to take just as long to wear off as it had to activate, which meant she'd be like this for a week.

This wasn't exactly bad, seeing as she'd be able to sense Zabuza's approach like the rest of them, which cut down the need for communication between the squad, but whether or not she could physically take the intensity was a different story. There was a chance that it would be too much for her, and she'd go unconscious or try to kill herself from the sensory overload of Zabuza's massive killer intent. Perhaps there was a countermeasure of sorts. She'd have to ask Kakashi to watch out for their pink-haired comrade to make sure she didn't overestimate herself and get into more trouble than the training had been worth.

* * *

Naruto's internal sense of time kicked in at around 8:00. The sun was bright enough outside for him to tell that it was past time he was supposed to be at the bridge. His eyes shot open, realizing that Sasuki had probably left him behind out of her obscene worry. He never got changed faster in his life, and was just about to burst out the door when two Ronin beat him to the punch, the door being sliced in half and kicked in by the taller of the two, who had his blade out. Naruto frowned, and wordlessly the three men were locked in combat.

Things were going alright for Naruto; he held one of his father's kunai in each hand, one in a forehand grip and the other reversed. He blocked the incoming sword slash from the taller of the two Ronin, planting the kunai in the ground behind him before flashing behind the attacker and locking him in a sleeper hold. However, by the time the first man was unconscious Naruto heard the muffled scream of Tsunami, being held with a tanto to her throat by the second thug. Naruto's eyes widened at the side.

"What do you want?" the blonde asked calmly.

"I want you to drop your weapons and walk away from this house, and if you do this I'll settle with having a little fun with this woman before killing her and using the boy as leverage to get the old fart to stop making that bridge."

Naruto blinked incredulously at the Ronin's blatant disregard of keeping his plans a secret.

"Hey, Gato hired me to get the kid, not run black ops," the Ronin replied, noticing Naruto's stare.

A blunted crossbow bolt shot from the staircase, striking the man in the forehead with surprising accuracy. He dropped in sword, and in the time it took the man to reach up and clutch his forehead, Naruto had tossed his second Hiraishin kunai at the wall behind the bandit, flashing over to him and landing a solid, high-speed cross to his jaw. Naruto turned to face his ally to be met with none other than Inari.

"You're a real idiot for getting into that kind of situation," the boy criticized. "If I weren't here, then you'd be dead."

Naruto grinned to himself. "Yeah, but heroes always show up at the last minute. Good work, kid," he said, walking over to Inari and ruffling his hair.

The phrase seemed to resonate in the boy's eyes as they slowly widened. He was a hero? Heroes weren't supposed to exist. Not since his dad died. Still, the praise felt good.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking this as a bad omen. My friends are probably in trouble and need my help, just like I needed yours. Keep your mom safe, and I'll bring your grandpa back home. Deal?"

Inari tilted his head down, hiding his grin at Naruto's further praise. This guy really trusted him, even after all the crap they'd spouted back and forth the other night?

"Yeah, you got it."

With that, Naruto was off.

The blonde hated himself for sleeping too long and leaving his team to face the coming mission without him. He willed his legs to work harder as he jumped from tree to tree. He had to move faster, cover more distance. Chunks of bark erupted with flares of chakra from his feet from the effort he was putting out.

'_Sasuki-chan…please be safe,'_ he thought, trying his hardest to will her out of any danger she may have been in.

* * *

Team Seven had been at the bridge for nearly an hour and a half by the time the attack began. Obscuring mists covered the bridge in their area and cut off of their chakra senses. That was the telltale warning that Zabuza was trying to use his Muon Satsujin Jutsu – his silent killing technique – just as he'd done the last time around.

"I don't believe I said this before, so I'll make up for it now," his voice echoed through the mist. It seemed to come from every direction, completely undetectable to Sakura, Sasuki, or even Kakashi.

"Eight vital points: Throat, jugular vein, sub-clavian artery, spinal cord, heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys. Which vital, vulnerable spot should I take down first, I wonder?" he chuckled darkly at the notion, appearing just a few feet in front of the group with Haku at his side.

"So you were his accomplice, eh?" Kakashi questioned the long-haired boy, lifting his hitai-ate to reveal his team mate's gift. "Then you two should be happy to be the first ones to see my Sharingan twice. Shall we commence, Demon of the Mist?" the Cyclops Jounin asked in a serious tone.

"Very well, Son of The White Fang," the bandaged man said, slinging Kubikiri Houchou over his shoulder and releasing his chakra. Kakashi did the same, blasting away a portion of the mist sizeable enough for the two to fight in. Four Mizu Bunshin appeared as the original mocked the group. "Look at the black haired one, shaking like a scared puppy. Don't worry, it will only hurt for a second."

"I'm shaking…with _anticipation,_" Sasuki replied, surging her own chakra throughout the area as she sped off towards the four clones, dispatching them in the blink of an eye before moving in towards the original with a reverse-gripped kunai in hand, only to be blocked off by Haku and one of his senbon.

Zabuza whistled as the two clashed, meeting in a stalemate. "It looks like Haku may have a rival in speed," he remarked offhandedly. This only seemed to irk Haku, as he brought up one hand and began forming seals with it.

'_Shit,'_ Sasuki thought as what seemed like a thousand needles of ice jumped up from the puddles left behind by Zabuza's dispatched clones. _'Was this their plan all along?'_ she asked herself, activating her Sharingan and glaring all around, trying to find an opening. To her relief, there was one. Up.

Sasuki channeled as much chakra as possible into her legs and leapt into the air, effectively dodging the needles and leaving her available to launch attacks. She quickly launched her kunai at the pseudo-Hunter Nin, only to have it blocked and split clean in two by needles with wind-enhanced chakra. Sasuki looked at the results stunned, before turning to avoid the senbon. "That…what was that?" she asked.

"I simply infused wind chakra into the senbon and threw it at your kunai," Haku replied.

"But that accuracy…that's something I've only ever seen from the Uchiha or Hyuuga clans."

"Lucky shot," Haku bluffed, knowing full well the extent of his training. He needed good hand-eye coordination for his ultimate jutsu.

"Fine then, your luck just ran out," Sasuki replied, dashing into the fray again.

Sakura couldn't feel more useless at the moment. Despite feeling all the chakra signatures around her with relative ease, those of Kakashi and Zabuza and even Haku to a certain extent were frying her senses. She could barely move away from Tazuna, her hyper-alert state only feeding her desire to protect the bridge-builder.

Kakashi was currently infusing earth chakra into his two kunai to keep them sturdy against the hulking mass of Kubikiri Houchou. It was times like these that he was thankful that his opponent couldn't use Fuuton. He had to act quickly to keep up with Zabuza in physical combat, especially since the ex-Kiri Nin was using his Kirigakure no Jutsu to his advantage.

"Looks like I have your number, Kakashi," he chuckled.

Kakashi spared a glance back over to his students. Sakura was doing fine, but Sasuki seemed to be struggling to keep up with the speed and agility of Zabuza's apprentice. She also seemed to be running out of kunai and shuriken, as all of them were on the ground, bisected down the middle. She reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out the one thing she wasn't expecting: A kunai with an extended handle and three blades. She couldn't bring herself to throw it, but blocked the incoming senbon nonetheless and was surprised to find that it could successfully deflect the needles without being damaged.

"It seems that you've found something to counter my senbon, but even your failsafe won't save you. Hyouton: Makyou Hyoushou!" the Yuki clansman spoke as an octagon of mirrors formed of frozen water, presumably from the air, encompassed the female Uchiha. Sasuki looked around as dozens of Hakus appeared in the mirror, trying to track what she could only assume was a way to travel at a rate faster than the human eye could see. Fortunately, the human eye was not the Sharingan, even with only one tomoe in each eye.

She launched off a Goukakyuu, only to have the rapidly moving Shinobi dodge her attempts. What shocked Sasuki even more was that even when her fireball struck the crystalline structures, they remained intact. No damage was dealt to the chakra-enforced ice. "You'll need to summon stronger flames than that if you wish to escape. I am constantly repairing these mirrors to deal with the warm weather. It wouldn't do to have my captive escaping, after all."

Sasuki frowned at Haku's taunt, knowing that she didn't have anything that could bust her out of this ice in her jutsu arsenal. _'Where are you, Naruto-kun?'_ Sasuki screamed in her head as the barrage of needles continued. She couldn't block them all with just one kunai, and no matter how many moves she made to dodge, it would never end up in her favor as the boy she was fighting against would quickly attack any opening he found. Needless to say, several senbon were still protruding from the girl's skin.

"Where is the boy that was with you earlier this week? I did not notice him when we were with the others. Could it be possible that he ran away because he feared he could not fight? Or are you keeping him out of danger by leaving him behind?" Haku asked in his usual monotone, though Sasuki saw it as more of a taunt.

Almost immediately, the boy was flying straight for the Uchiha heiress. Sasuki barely had time to comprehend that this ninja was the effeminate boy that she and Naruto had met earlier, opting to instead hold the kunai in front of her, hoping to somewhat deflect the attack.

A bright yellow light flashed, and everything suddenly slowed down for the ravenette. Naruto had come out of nowhere, and through the solid ice of the mirrors. His fist was planted heavily into the mask of the Hunter Nin. Haku was sent careening into the next mirror. "If you lay another finger on her, I'll kill you myself, Haku," Naruto said darkly, his Fuuingan blaring at full strength, all three tomoe burning in each eye.

"I never intended to kill anyone. However, if you insist on halting Zabuza-sama's dreams then I will stop you, whatever the cost may be. For that is the way of the Shinobi, to remove yourself of all emotion and become nothing but a tool to serve your superiors."

Naruto scoffed, whipping out his Hiraishin kunai and going through the motions of flicking them around the dome made by the ice mirrors. The thought occurred to the blonde that the process of chucking his kunai around was becoming repetitive. He'd need to work on his eye-based seal scribing more to deal with it, or just stop spamming the jutsu like he had been. For now though, he needed a way to keep up with Haku's several reflections and apparent speed. "If you consider yourself a tool, then that's all you'll ever be."

Sasuki was left to watch as Naruto flashed around the battlefield, creating several shadow clones to aid his efforts. Because they wouldn't stop moving, it was impossible to pin down one target, at least that's what Sasuki thought. She was amazed when Haku suddenly appeared with his fist in Naruto's gut. All the other clones vanished with the attack, and Naruto was laying on the ground, dry heaving from the speed of the blow.

"I find it hard to believe that tactic worked. Your clones appear in different places than you do to start, and whereas they don't bother to look where they're going, your eyes turn towards your target position every time you're about to move. All I have to do is aim where you're looking."

Sasuki dashed forward, kunai drawn toward the talking Haku, but her slice met empty air. The sound of senbon slicing through skin and Naruto's grunt of pain hit her ears and she whipped her head in the direction of the noise to see Naruto with five of the weaponized needles protruding from his body in various places. "Stay back. You can't dodge them without the Hiraishin," Naruto mumbled.

"So I'm just supposed to sit and watch you get skinned alive by this guy?" she demanded.

"Yes," Naruto replied quietly, his eyes whipping to a mirror to his left before he disappeared in a flash of yellow and slammed a rasengan into the reflection's face. The mirror shattered under the force of the chakra orb, and Haku was sent flying out of the dome. "Now run, I still have him tagged."

The reflections reappeared quickly, every one of them drawing needles. Naruto tried to figure out the pattern behind the throwing, but failed to track the Hyouton user with his eyes like Sasuki could with her Sharingan. The most he could do was see how Haku had blended his chakra to get the ice element to work, which gave him an eerie understanding of elements that hadn't been taught to him in the academy. That information was useless, though, as he didn't have Haku's blood.

The blonde was taking needle after needle to various parts of his body for some time. He easily had sixty still stuck in him. He fixed this issue by pulsing chakra through his muscles, reversing a bit of the damage done by the attacks to his nerves as well as the cuts. For the most part, however, he had begun to dodge them. It really didn't help that Haku was aiming for the kunai he was using to teleport everywhere in addition to the blonde's body.

"Is that all you've got? Some toothpicks and flashy movement?" Naruto taunted, still fairly light on his feet given the damage he'd taken. He'd have to thank the Kyuubi for giving him heightened healing when his adrenaline was pumping.

"Very well, perhaps I will aim for more…effective…targets," Zabuza's apprentice remarked, wind chakra flaring into his needles as he tossed them. Naruto jumped back and tried to block with an average kunai, but the needles went through like it was rice paper that formed the knife and pinned Naruto to a mirror. Naruto took note of the technique quickly, knowing he would have to dodge the attack when he broke free. However, a sharp pain in his thighs followed by a feeling of numbness told him that he wouldn't be moving anytime soon. "Now don't move, and these won't kill you."

He deftly registered Sasuki running through three well-known hand seals. _"She isn't going to…_" he thought. Everything slowed down, seconds dragging on for hours as he saw the kunai in front of him disappear at the exact second Haku released his senbon. Sasuki appeared in front of him in a puff of smoke, acting like a shield for the blonde, and instead of the weapons piercing his upper abdomen and certain areas around the eyes meant to cause unconsciousness and trouble breathing, she had forgotten to factor in for the difference in their height and took them to the diaphragm, completely halting her breathing. The ones aimed for his eyes, to Naruto's horror, pierced straight through her Hitai-ate and into her skull.

As Sasuki gasped for breath, Naruto felt something snap within him. Unknown to him at the time, the white tomoe in his eyes had completely disappeared, and the ring surrounding his pupil had turned into a complex and miniature seal array, with three lines that continued the array striking through where the tomoe had once been. He understood that this was what his Fuuingan was supposed to look like all along, and that he had only activated the preliminary stage up to that point, but it was a notion he couldn't find reason to care about. He slipped out of his jacket and crouched next to the ravenette, whose pupils had turned to pinpoints by now, with a mixture of crushing sorrow, blazing anger, and vast amounts of concern.

"Why?" Naruto asked, his voice shaking and low.

"I wasn't going to let you get hurt anymore. He was aiming for spots that could have blinded you and destroyed your chances of being a ninja. I know how important it is to you that you become Hokage, and my body just…moved on its own."

Didn't she realize that she was more important to him than all of that? Hadn't he made it clear? "Stay still, just stay still. I'll go get Hatake-sensei. He'll fix this," he whispered to her. Regretfully he stood, but she had clasped onto his hand to prevent him from leaving.

"Kakashi-sensei…can't fix this Naruto-kun. I'm as good as dead, so please…just stay here with me until I go?" she asked, looking at him with teary eyes.

"You can't die, Sasuki-chan. I won't let you," the blonde said, his stubbornness shining through.

"Idiot, you can't decide who lives and who dies. Not after the fact," she said, taking a breath that caught several times in her throat, "Itachi…he's still out there…he still has to pay for what he's done. Can you do that for me, Naruto-kun?"

Tears had begun to fall from Naruto's face, and he nodded reluctantly. "I promise that _when_ you make it through this, I'll help you kill him, and that it's your goal just as much as mine now, so you _cannot die on me._"

Sasuki smiled weakly, her eyes half-shut. "I love you…I really, really love you," she said in barely a whisper.

"I love you too, that's why you need to hold on. I can't live without you, Sasuki-chan. Please, just stay alive," he begged.

"It's too late. I've got head trauma, and once I go unconscious I'm not waking up. Not without the best damn medic ninja in the world and more kinjutsu than you could imagine," she laughed, "So kiss me one last time before I go, alright?"

Naruto complied wordlessly, kissing the Uchiha in a farewell he dreaded would be the last until he felt her breathing completely stop and her chakra signature fade. Naruto picked up her body bridal style, and with his head tilted down Haku could not see his face.

"Is this the first time you've lost a loved one in battle? Trust me when I say it happens every day, for death is the way of the Shinobi. You should be proud she died in battle, like a true ninja. Old age doesn't suit tools. They are to be replaced once they break or become useless," Haku said in an eerily calm tone.

"_**Shut up."**_

Naruto's head snapped up and to the right, glaring at the half-broken mask of the real Haku's face. His killing intent had spiked to beyond levels that Haku had felt from even Zabuza, and his chakra was so foul that he could barely stomach it, but worst of all were his eyes. They were a deep purple in hue, with the white seal array still intact. His pupil had turned into a violent slit encompassed by the circular seal. For that one instant before the eye turned back to a blood red and the array was lost, Haku felt as though every cell in his body had stopped functioning, like he'd been frozen where he stood and all he could see was his inevitable death at the hands of this boy.

"_**I don't care what you think. You took her from me, so I'm gonna fucking kill you."**_

He disappeared again, but not from the Hiraishin no Jutsu. This was his speed alone. With both arms occupied, Naruto smashed his right foot into Haku's stomach with a violent front kick which shattered the mirror and several others around it from the sheer air pressure behind the blow. The first kick made Haku feel like every one of his internal organs had been liquefied, and the skull-shattering roundhouse that followed, in mid-air no less, sent him careening off into the distance, right into another mirror.

Haku stared wide eyed as Naruto was almost instantly upon him. How had he known which mirror to aim for? Could he see him move? No, that was impossible for any boy of his caliber.

Despite the needles flying through the air, despite the fact that it was an inescapable technique, and despite the fact that Haku was confident that this was no longer a boy, but a demon of the worst sort that he was ready to kill without a second thought, Naruto could not be hurt.

A bellowing, chakra-infused howl of rage and anguish sent a shockwave of power in all directions, deflecting all the needles before they even had a chance to pierce their target's flesh.

Naruto stood in the middle of the partially collapsed dome, looking for Haku wherever he might be popping up next. His senses alerted him to the boy's presence above, and he jumped and spun in the air, avoiding the downwards facing senbon that rained onto the ground where he once stood. His rage spike again, paralyzing Haku on the spot, and the following barrage of assorted kicks was too fast for the human eye to track.

The demonic chakra that surrounded Naruto was running wild, shimmering and swaying all around him. Sasuki's limp form had an aura of the demonic chakra around it as well, healing her body despite her state. Suddenly though, it all just seemed to fade away.

Why? Well certainly the simple fact that Haku's mask had broken in the flurry of strikes couldn't cause such a violent and malevolent energy to fade as if it had never been there in the first place. What was this boy's game?

"Actually, no, I won't kill you. You'll live every day with the fact that you've ended the life of the girl who was precious to me – the girl I loved unconditionally – right in front of me, and it will slowly eat away at your spirit until you drive yourself mad. That's the kind of punishment someone like you deserves."

Naruto walked away from the ice user, the rest of the Makyou Hyoushou falling apart behind him as he walked. "Very well, someone like me, who is a broken tool, deserves the death that's so slow that a battle cannot bring it. I have failed Zabuza, but I may have a chance at redemption.

Naruto whipped around to see Haku vanish into another mirror. He then turned his attention to Kakashi.

* * *

Ninja Hounds had bit heavily into the swordsman's form, restricting any movement at all, and Kakashi stood no more than ten paces from the nuke nin, a Raikiri in hand. "You've fought well, Demon of The Bloody Mist. However, this fight is over. This is my one original technique. You should be proud to meet your end like this."

Zabuza's eyes shut tight when Kakashi lunged at him. The sound of blood splattering on the ground but the lack of pain making him wonder what had gotten in the way. He opened them to see Haku standing in the way, the Raikiri driven through his chest instead.

Kakashi's eyes had widened. He'd never expected this. Just what had Zabuza done to this boy to make sacrificing himself so easy? Better yet, why hadn't he seen something like this coming?

"Kehe."

Kakashi's eyes turned up towards Zabuza, who had begun laughing richly at the situation. Haku's arms were now wrapped tightly around Kakashi's attacking limb, and a backwards kick had freed the man's sword arm.

With that, the ice mirror shattered. Zabuza reached for his blade, attempting to cleave clean through both Kakashi and Haku. The copy ninja grabbed the body of the deceased boy and jumped away. "Dirty bastard. Did you even care about this kid?"

"Why should I have?" Zabuza yelled in an amused tone.

"Because Haku died for you," a calm voice came from the side. Both men turned to face Naruto, still carrying Sasuki's body. "And when a person is willing to die for you, you don't treat them like a tool. He gave everything for you, and how did you repay him? People call me a demon, and yet you attempt to desecrate the bodies of your fallen comrades. I can't believe someone like you even made it into my book."

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock at the body of the girl in Naruto's arms. "Naruto, are you alright?" he asked in a level tone. He'd felt the surge of demonic chakra, but this new cold aura that Naruto exuded was almost as chilling as the fox's had been intimidating.

"I'm fine," he replied, spitting out the words.

"So the little brat thinks he can talk smack to me while his dead girlfriend's weighing him down? Kakashi, you just wait right there. I'll come for you next."

Zabuza charged then, his limp arm flopping around at his side while Kubikiri Houcho rose in front of him. Kakashi tried to move, putting down Haku to allow for greater speed, but he hadn't reacted quickly enough. Zabuza would get to Naruto first.

That seemed to be the blonde's plan all along, though. Shifting Sasuki into one arm, the blonde swayed dramatically underneath the cutting motion before shooting back up with a ball of whirling chakra in his newly freed hand.

"Rasengan!"

Kubikiri Houcho flew from Zabuza's grip as the orb impacted his shoulder, costing him control over his second arm. There wasn't any permanent damage – Naruto was far too exhausted for that – but now his opponent didn't have any legs left to stand on. He could win.

The sound of a can impacting the rock of the bridge brought everyone's attention to a short, rotund man in a black suit with sunglasses. "Zabuza, I paid you so much money to get the job done and look at how you've failed me. I'm afraid our deal is done. I'll be…collecting…my assets from you once I've had these men, who only asked for half of what you did for all of them combined might I add, finish you off.

Zabuza grimaced, noting that Haku's body was sitting so close to the man whose arm was in a sling.

"Oh, what do we have here? Aren't you the little brat who nearly shattered my arm? Oh, how I've waited for this opportunity. It's just too bad you don't seem to be able to feel it anymore."

Naruto bared his teeth at the display of Gato kicking and stomping on Haku's body. Who even did that? Who the hell even did that? He glanced over to Zabuza, who didn't seem to be responding at all.

"Aren't you going to do anything!?"

There was still no response from the man, just that cold stare directed at Gato, with his back facing to the blonde.

"Haku lived for you! He gave everything for you!"

Kakashi felt the urge to intervene.

"Naruto, it's not your pla…"

"To hell with whose place it is! Is this what becoming a ninja does to you? Kill all your friends and loved ones? Make you forget how to care? If that's what it is, then I'd rather stay a genin for the rest of my life than turn into some inhuman scum like you!"

"ENOUGH!"

Zabuza's scream instantly silenced Naruto. The Demon of the Mist wasn't sure if it had been the words, the site of Gato relentlessly desecrating the corpse of Haku – a boy who had always been loyal to him – or both. Still, those words had stung worse than any blade he'd felt in his lifetime. They stung so much that they brought tears to his eyes. He was a demon. Demons weren't supposed to know how to cry.

"Boy, give me one of those kunai you hold so dear," he said, tearing his bandages off with his teeth. His arms were still useless from the beating that Kakashi and Naruto had given him.

Naruto deftly flicked one of the three pronged kunai into the air, mumbling "here," in a detached tone. Zabuza caught it in his teeth before rushing the group of thugs Gato had brought with him, making a bee-line towards Gato and disemboweling anyone who got in his way.

Naruto had never seen intensity like this. Sure, he was remotely aware of what went on when he was using the chakra of the Kyuubi, but this…this was on a whole other level. He'd never be able to do something like this. This man, this demon, was calling on the energy of his rage and hate to replenish his energy. He didn't have a cheap trick like being a Jinchuuriki or a kekkei genkai to fall back on. He was killing several men with nothing but the kunai in his mouth while running on nothing but pure bloodlust.

It was probably one of the most terrifying and amazing things he'd ever seen.

Still, the man was weary. He was taking blows to the spine from naginatas and other sorts of spears, but he just kept on going. He wouldn't survive long like this. Hell, that last one should have paralyzed him by all means. Still, was this the extent of the power of will?

The squelching sound of his kunai entering Gato's heart gave the whole situation a sense of finality, especially with the words nearly screamed by Zabuza as he plunged Gato into the sea.

"You know Gato, they reserve special places in hell for people like you and me. I bet there are plenty of other demons down there, and I'll fit in just nicely. But you? You're in for a long and painful _eternity!_"

The man fell from the bridge and into the waters below. Needless to say, the thugs weren't too happy about their employer quite literally going off the deep end, and were almost immediately threatening to ransack the village for all it was worth. This little uprising, however, was quelled quickly by the arrival of the villagers.

Naruto would have made an attempt at backing them up, but he was finding it hard to do anything at this point. Luckily, Kakashi seemed to have gleaned the Kage Bunshin off of him, and that was enough to scare everyone away.

* * *

"Are you sure that it'll be enough?" Naruto asked Kakashi, looking at the monument they'd made for Zabuza and Haku. It was the first thing he'd said in the past few hours since the battle on the bridge.

"Yeah, I can't imagine either of them wanting more," the silver haired man replied.

Zabuza had died next to Haku after all his injuries took effect on him, a last request of sorts from the man. Kakashi had been more than willing to drag the man to the side of his partner. It had begun snowing just after that, and Naruto couldn't help but feel like it was a sign of closure; an end of the suffering in wave, an end of this piece of shit mission, and more importantly an end to his worries about Sasuki.

Kakashi had determined that if they hurried and Naruto kept pumping chakra into her, there may be a chance to save Sasuki. The chances of a full recovery would be slim to none, but at the very least she'd be alive again. So, with that in mind, Naruto was determined to get her back home as quickly as possible. Team Seven left the cliff facing the bridge, the two grave markers at their backs.

The villagers had shown up shortly after Gato's demise and helped to chase away the rest of the thugs. Somehow Naruto had been confident that they'd be okay so long as Inari kept his faith in heroes intact this time around. There wasn't much left to say but goodbye, and while Naruto would have loved to pass on some final wisdom to the boy he'd changed so much in that week, he was more concerned with Sasuki.

Sakura still couldn't believe that Sasuki had almost died. Naruto seemed more torn up about it than any of them. She could sense his rage just beneath the surface of it all, but he did a wonderful job of suppressing it. "It's going to be okay. Sasuki's a fighter. She'll wake up. She has to," she said, more to reassure him than herself.

Truth be told, Sakura was a little miffed that she'd been ignored during the final battle, but she had been busy protecting Tazuna should the other defenses fail. She felt like she'd done nothing though. Maybe Naruto had been right. She should focus more on support techniques than ninjutsu or taijutsu. Then she would have been of more use when Sasuki got hurt.

* * *

When they'd gotten back, Sasuki had been rushed to the hospital straight away. Naruto had never left her side, watching the machine show precious vital signs that confirmed she was alive and kicking. They said there was no evidence they found to support the wounds that Naruto had reported, and he had a feeling that it had something to do with his use of the Kyuubi's chakra during his battle with Haku. He also knew that it may very well be dangerous despite saving her life. Though, when he'd asked for them to check her circulatory system, they found no anomalies in her chakra system aside from a tenketsu or two in her neck pumping chakra slightly irregularly. It was something that she'd have to give a while before doing anything about it.

Naruto could only assume that was the mate mark at work, and waved it off quickly. The doctors were content with leaving her on life support for now, and let Naruto stay with more than a little convincing from Kakashi. The hospital was probably the one safe place in Konoha for Naruto. Like jail was to a convict with a messy life, it was the only place he could get three square meals a day most of the time, and they'd grown used to his presence. Some of the doctors and nurses still held grudges, but those that understood his predicament were typically the ones to treat him.

He stayed for days, sleeping at her bedside, and the only time he would eat would be when Sakura or Kakashi brought him food. He wouldn't pull away from her, not for a second. He wanted to see her the instant her eyes opened to know for sure that she wasn't dead.

Then after about a week, Naruto awoke to the sound of her hitched breath. Sasuki sat up quickly, a look of fear crossing her face which quickly turned into rage. "Where is that asshole!?" she said, trying to scream through a hoarse throat and coughing because of it.

Naruto was there for her with a bottle of water, which she took long swigs from despite his warnings that she'd get sick if she took it that fast. When she was satisfied, or rather when the bottle was empty, she looked at Naruto, then around the room.

"This is the hospital in Konoha?" she asked the boy. Naruto simply nodded.

"Kakashi-sensei and Sakura are alright?"

Naruto nodded again, and a visible rush of relief washed over the girl. "Thank God. I thought I was a goner back there."

"You almost were. Somehow, you got my healing factor when I was using that special chakra during the fight. I had to keep it flowing through you on the way back."

Sasuki frowned. He'd used the Kyuubi's chakra on her? Wasn't that supposed to be a highly volatile chakra? Shouldn't it have made her worse, rather than better?

Oh hell, she was so out of it she could hardly think. She needed food. She felt like she was starving.

"So how long am I looking at a diet of hospital food? I need to get back out there sooner or later."

Naruto paused. After going through all of that, she still wanted to hop right back up and get back into the thick of things? Didn't she know how much she'd scared him? He felt like he lost something that day, and he never wanted to feel like that again. It hurt too much to lose a bond like that with no warning, no control over the situation.

So, he did the only thing he could think of. He told her about it.

"Sasuki-chan, when you almost died I snapped. I felt so cold and so alone that I didn't know what to do. I was a ball of violent emotions; a wreck. I nearly killed Haku just because I wanted him to know the same sort of pain I was feeling, and that's not something I want to feel ever again."

Sasuki looked carefully at the blonde. What was he getting at?

"What are you getting at? You want me to stop being a ninja?"

Naruto's eyes widened at her statement of his own wishes. He knew it was selfish, and he knew it was a terrible idea, but it was what he was feeling, and if he wasn't honest with her, he was afraid that those worries might grow until he couldn't handle it anymore.

"I just want you to stay safe."

Sasuki visibly lurched away from him when he said that. He hadn't said he agreed with her statement, but he hadn't completely shot it down either. Did that mean he was considering it? Who the hell gave him the right to make that choice! It was her life! She called the shots!

"You don't even know what you're saying right now, do you?" she asked.

"Do you?" Naruto shot back, eyes narrowing as he looked at her, a look of desperation crossing his face. "Before that fight, you said you wanted to get _married, _Sasuki. You had a plan of how to get it to work and everything. I was happy, thrilled enough to overlook the fact that I wanted to put everything on hold until we got back. You went from just being a very nice presence in my life to being my _everything._ I thought I'd lost that when Haku did what he did."

Sasuki looked at him dumbfounded. He hadn't really lost her. She was still here, alive and kicking. There was no way that he was looking at this rationally.

"I'm still here, Naruto. I'm safe. I didn't die."

"But you _could_ have!"

"So what!?"

"So if someone did manage to take you away from me, I wouldn't be able to handle it! I tore into Haku with abandon, and it _scared_ me, Sasuki. I've never been that angry, that ready to kill before, and it scared me. I never want to feel that way again, and if that means that you can't be a ninja anymore then..."

"Then we need to stop being us."

Naruto's tongue froze in his mouth. Did she just say what he think she said? No, that couldn't have been possible. They loved each other, and when you were in love, you didn't just suddenly stop. Still, despite all of it, a reflexive response crossed his lips.

"What?"

Sasuki looked away, knowing that what she was about to say would hurt the both of them. Still, if they were getting that close, if she had hurt him that much, then it was something that she needed to say.

"Naruto, I've been determined to become a ninja for as long as I can remember. Becoming strong enough to kill Itachi is one of the most important things in my life. And as much as you mean to me, I'm just not ready to give that up. If us being together is something that's going to get in the way of it, then I can't. I just can't."

The several seconds that passed after that were totally silent, and perhaps the most awkward moment the two had ever experienced while in the company of the other. Finally, Naruto couldn't take it anymore.

"I need to go."

He sat up and left the room, Sasuki unable to say anything, but unable to take her eyes off his back at the same time. Finally, when the door had shut and he was long gone, the girl pulled her legs up and placed her head in her knees. She didn't like it, but this is what needed to be done.

* * *

A loud and violent knocking on his door awoke the silver haired Jounin. He walked to it slowly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Didn't this person know what time it was?

His question was answered when he found a teared-up Naruto. Of course the blonde had no idea what time it was. There was something wrong with Sasuki.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I told her how much her almost dying had scared me, and that I wanted her to stay safe. She broke things off with me."

'_Hoo boy,_' the silver haired main thought, opening the door wider and stepping out of the way.

"Come on in."

* * *

**Yeah, I know every chapter after this isn't going to make sense for the next while, but I'm working on it. For now, anyone just picking this up needs to know that previously, Haku's attack made Sasuki forget everything from right after the Uchiha Massacre up until the present. I hated the plot point, but needed some way to back off that whole "let's get married" bandwagon these two thirteen year olds seemed to be on. What better way than having them get in an argument?**


	12. End of The Beginning

**Oh yes, I'm liking this conflict much more than the memory loss bit. I see this going places. Kehehe.**

**Updated: 8/10/2013**

* * *

While Kakashi was used to listening to the troubles of his peers over a glass of sake, that wasn't really an option at this point.. Letting a thirteen year old – even if he was a ninja – drink probably wouldn't be smiled upon by the general public. Besides, whatever the blonde was saying would probably become incoherent if he couldn't hold his liquor. Still, the man was more than willing to expend his entire supply of cup ramen on the boy. He'd be out of snack food for the next week or so while he saved up the funds, but he supposed that those that didn't look out for their comrades were worse than trash, and Naruto probably needed the pick-me-up.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do about all of this, Hatake-sensei," Naruto said as he put down his second empty cup. "More, please."

Kakashi nodded, taking the kettle from the stove and filling up another cup, setting it off to the side and trusting his internal sense of time to tell him when it was done. If not, Naruto's was probably a lot more practiced.

"Dealing with women can be difficult at times, Naruto. Trust me, I've been around the block a few times. What exactly happened?"

Sighing, the blonde recounted the rather short and angry conversation he'd had with the Uchiha female. How he'd felt when she'd gone down, the fear he'd felt about those emotions and that chakra, and the protectiveness he felt over her.

By the end of it all, even Kakashi wasn't sure exactly what had possessed the blonde to try and tell the girl that she shouldn't be a ninja. He was even less sure about why the raven haired girl had spouted out talk of marriage during that mission. Then again, they were only thirteen. Kids these days were taking their relationships way too seriously. Even if the two of them were alone growing up, there was no reason for things to have gone this far save for a lack of common sense. Did these two really think they were ready for something like that after just a couple of months of really being together?

"Look, I'm sure if you give it enough time, things will blow over. You two are only thirteen, you've got all the time in the world to think about relationships and marriage. What you should be more worried about now is the Chunin Exams. Still, if you really want to start trying to make things better, I'd suggest going down to the hospital tomorrow and apologizing."

Naruto quirked his brow at that. "Apologize for what? Expressing how I really feel about all of this? That's not something I'm going to be able to do, Hatake-sensei."

Kakashi sighed, bringing his fingers to the bridge of his nose as he rubbed the area in frustration. "Of course not. Well, whatever. You should head home, Naruto. It's getting late."

The blonde looked wearily over to the container of ramen, and Kakashi deftly picked it up and handed it to him. "Now go."

Nodding, Naruto took off. He was in for a long night, that much was for sure.

* * *

Naruto trudged down the streets of Konoha with hands buried deep in his pockets and downcast eyes, searching for something to do that could possibly take his mind off all the crap that had been going on in his life right now. There was just way too much to deal with right now, and it felt like he was drowning from all of it floating around him. He knew that he'd have to show up for the debriefing soon, and he had a mission report to file after that. It wasn't like that would cut into his training time, though. The Hokage had decided to give the team the rest of the week off, which by Kakashi's explanation would be more than enough time to train for the Chunin Exams.

Was it bad that he wasn't the slightest bit excited for those?

He sighed at the knowledge of what he had to do today, despite looking for some sort of distraction. The hospital had also made it crystal clear that Sasuki would be ready to train again by tomorrow, meaning that she'd be at the mission briefing as well.

He might as well get that over with as quickly as humanly possible. The Hokage tower was close enough that he could make it there a bit early even if he walked the rest of the way, and then he'd probably still have to wait for Kakashi with Sasuki in silence.

Yeah, he had about an hour or so to kill before he was willing to get within twenty feet of that building. Actually, better make that fifty. The only problem was that he didn't know what he was going to do with the time he had before he needed to meet up with the group. Maybe he could go out and train a bit. Nah, he wasn't really feeling like doing anything at the moment. Still, there was only an hour to waste, and it wasn't like he could walk all the way back to his apartment.

"Hey Boss, wanna go play ninja with us!?" a small, somewhat nasally voice rang out.

Naruto turned, catching sight of a short brunette boy and two of his companions.

Smirking, Naruto threw his hand up in the air and waved. "Man, are you lucky Konohamaru. I just so happen to have a gap in my busy schedule."

The group of four took off. Thankfully, Naruto could always count on Konohamaru to bail him out of a slump.

* * *

The hour with Konohamaru had been a welcome break from Naruto's moping about the village. The group of four had taken to the streets, Konohamaru lending Naruto some of the paper shuriken that were typically used in games of ninja among the children of the village as the three academy students went after Naruto with all they had.

Playing ninja was a lot like playing tag in reverse. Everyone would pick a singular target and that target would be responsible for escaping their enemies as long as possible. From there, it was all a matter of hitting those attacking you with the fake shuriken and freezing them in place. A team mate could come along at any time to unfreeze this person, but if the target managed to get all three of their enemies before they got him, the game was considered won. Alternatively, if the target was hit at any time by their attackers, the game was lost.

Winning a game of ninja was probably one of the best tests to see if someone was ready to become a Genin. It showed stealth, accuracy, and tactical readiness. Of course, when it all boiled down to its base ingredients it was just a bunch of kids throwing paper weapons at each other for hours on end, but it was a damn fine way to spend your time.

Naruto had been the target first, and of course he'd easily beaten back the opposition in order to win the game. Although that technically meant a new target was supposed to be chosen, he obliged the children by staying on until the hour he'd wanted to waste was up. In that hour, he'd won three games. He was feeling pretty good about himself after that, and a confrontation with Sasuki was the last thing on his mind.

Still, all good things had to come to an end. The hour expired, and Naruto went on his merry way to the Hokage Tower in a slightly better mood than when he'd begun the game. Still, he was a bit worried about being in the same room as Sasuki. She'd been pretty set on the fact that they weren't going to continue as they had been.

How could she have cut something like what they had off so quickly, anyways? Didn't she think it was important? He certainly had. He'd been willing to put his life down for it, and so had she. Still, maybe what she'd been willing to die for had been something different than what he had. He just wanted her to be safe, but she seemed more concerned with growing more powerful than staying safe.

Sighing, Naruto decided that it just wasn't going to be worth it to worry about for too long. If Sasuki wanted to go and be reckless, he'd just have to be strong enough to get to her before she got herself killed, even if it meant not being able to stay in a relationship with her. He had to admit, they were probably distracting each other a lot more than they should have been in their training so far.

Okay, so that was a lie. Maybe if he told himself that enough though, it would start to sound true.

* * *

Normally, mission briefings with the Hokage tended to be right after said mission had been completed. It made the whole process easier, seeing as a confirmation of mission success or failure was easy enough to report in, and the debriefing process took place in the same location. However, in the case that there was an injury that required medical attention among the squad, this meeting was often put off so as to make it as easy as possible to rush the injured where they needed to go.

Naruto had arrived even later than Kakashi had, though not by much. Still, he was met with the chagrin of Sakura and the cold indifference of Sasuki, which both stung more than a little. Still, he'd decided that it was a lot less painful than having to sit in Sasuki's presence for the time before Kakashi showed up, and brushed off his lateness with a story of how Konohamaru had held him up.

"Honestly Naruto, letting a little kid chase you around the village just because you didn't want to lose a game? It's unbecoming," Sakura sighed. She'd given Naruto a sharp smack across the head, but the open-handed maneuver was much less brutal or violent than she usually doled out. That was a welcome improvement to their relationship for the blonde, enough so that the hit didn't even bother him.

"Alright you two, we're already late as it is, let's just get up there and give our report to the Hokage. After that, you can start beating the crap out of each other and call it training. We've got the exams coming up after all."

Everyone in the group seemed to take that as incentive to simply file up to the Hokage's office and get the worst of things out of the way.

* * *

Sarutobi had been very understanding of the predicament that the group had gone through, and for once he was able to sit through a mission report without Naruto embellishing on the details. This time, there was simply no way that the boy could have made what had actually happened any more impressive.

The group had chosen to continue with their mission after their encounter with the Demon Brothers, and then again after meeting and living through Zabuza for the first time. It was admirable how courageous they were, but also frightening how willing they were to jump into dangerous situations. Sarutobi was mildly tempted to warn them against doing something like that again, but it was because they had continued to move forward that they were standing here now with an entire nation freed from the tyrannical rule of Gato.

Still, the fact that the greatest businessman the world had seen in decades had died at the hands of a rogue ninja was bound to cause political upheaval. It would be a lot of long and arduous hours of filling out paperwork to try and cover up these facts, but it would be well worth it if it kept these four safe. They were really something special.

In the end, he'd dismissed them after hearing the full story from Kakashi. The Jounin would have a written report by the end of the week, and then all this could perhaps blow over. Still, the young Genin he'd sent out two weeks ago had seemed to have changed a little bit. Was this the result of some sort of trauma, or just them growing more mature?

Sarutobi Hiruzen was not an oblivious old man. One did not gain the position of Hokage without the proper amount of skill and discipline. He'd spied the looks that the tree Genin shot between each other during Kakashi's report. Naruto and Sasuki appeared to be trying their best at ignoring one another, whereas Sakura's eyes kept darting back towards Naruto. He'd have to dismiss these three early if he wanted to retrieve some of the more personal information not suited to a mission report from Kakashi.

"Well then, you three may go. However, I'll need Kakashi-san to stay in order to fill out some more papers. Nothing important, just descriptions of injuries sustained throughout the mission. He'll catch up in a few minutes time."

Naruto, Sasuki, and Sakura all nodded before exiting the room in a line.

"I'm assuming this has a bit more to it than an injury report, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said dryly as the door shut.

"Well, I doubt that Naruto wouldn't appreciate you telling me the reason he's become so sullen, and I don't think Sakura would much like the reasons behind her sudden shyness around the boy being revealed."

Kakashi inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. He knew that something like this might have happened. You could always count on the Hokage to look out for the emotional security of his ninja. He thought it was important to keep children innocent for as long as possible. It was one of the main things that differentiated him from people like Danzo.

"I suppose it may have something to do with the fact that Naruto and Sasuki are arguing, and that Sakura learned about certain details surrounding Naruto during the mission. However, she seems to be taking it well. They're getting closer, in fact. She's been following his training regimen lately, and while there are some odd side-effects, there's nothing that will injure her. I believe she's starting to trust him a bit more."

Sarutobi nodded, smirking at how complicated the trappings of youth could appear while they were really just small, common moments. Still, he supposed that this would be the first lover's quarrel that Naruto had ever been in. Perhaps all he needed was a little time to sort his thoughts.

* * *

Naruto threw a relentless barrage of punches and kicks into the wooden training post, exhausting himself of any thoughts of Sasuki. He had to completely consume his conscious with training if he wanted to get ready for the Chunin exams. That meant more physical training, more chakra control, maybe even putting the finishing touches on a few new ideas he had for techniques. He had all the time and chakra he needed to be able to get ready for the exams.

All in all, he'd have to make about two thousand clones. Five hundred would work on jutsu Naruto had a grasp on already one at a time so that he'd receive the most bang for his buck when the other clones learned what the first did and went off of that. Two hundred and fifty would work on seals and calligraphy, two hundred and fifty more would work with Naruto for combat purposes, and the last thousand would be split into four groups to work on new jutsu that Naruto had planned out.

With the training regimen thought out, Naruto quickly flared his chakra and produced the clones. The vacant field became a somewhat crowded area with the additional bodies in the area, and without another word they begun their work. It probably would have been a little more of a hassle to get them all focused, but they were just as torn up about the events as he was, and just as determined because of it. So when the two hundred and fifty people charged at him, using their confusion as rage to fuel their energy, he was eager to start the session.

"You idiot!" Naruto screamed, raking a claw-hand across the face of a clone and receiving the memories of the searing pain as it was removed from existence.

"Who tells an Uchiha to stop being a ninja!?" Two more met their fate from a powerful roundhouse kick that drove straight through one and into the other. It drew a curved line in the ground as his foot dropped and dragged across it. This was one of the jutsu he'd been working on; wind manipulation in his fists and feet for when weapons failed. It wasn't perfect, and was a failsafe more than anything else, but it never hurt to work on something by yourself for a bit. It seemed to be effective enough to blow through a few shadow clones at once if she made it strong enough. As for drawbacks, it put him in more danger than if he were to use the same method on a weapon, as it was his body he was using to attack with. That, and if someone used fire jutsu on him while this technique was active he would be particularly vulnerable. Though he also supposed that the risks had rewards, as channeling chakra into his hand or foot was easier than channeling it into a weapon, and he would be next to immune to lightning jutsu.

His training extended onwards until sunset, where the blonde collapsed from a mixture of chakra exhaustion and an extreme physical tiredness. His head ached, his muscles burned, and what seemed most important of all his heart felt numb. It didn't matter how hard he pushed himself, because he couldn't stop feeling pain in his chest. Not like this. He'd told Haku that he wouldn't be a tool, someone who would stop feeling, and he'd been right.

"Naruto?"

The blonde's head whipped around at the sound. His eyes fell upon Sakura, who was staring at him with a mix of curiosity and concern. She rushed to his side, peeling off her recently acquired gloves and feeling his forehead. She silently swept a stream of cool water from the nearby brook over his body, and then used the same skill to completely dry him off. She dragged him under a tree. "You idiot, how long have you been out here? I got worried when I started being able to sense your chakra. I don't think anyone else did, so I'm probably still coming down from my chakra high. Silly, I know, but now I'm sure that I would be able to sense you even without the advantage."

Naruto didn't reply, in fact he'd nodded off from exhaustion. Sakura checked his pulse and breathing, turning his head off to the side to keep him from choking on his tongue. She lit her hands with chakra of her own and began a transfusion, surprised at how quickly Naruto's body ate at it. Suddenly, his eyes shot open as blood red orbs with slit pupils. Sakura backed up at the flare of malicious energy as Naruto sat up.

"Hey. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," he said, his voice didn't have its influenced gruff, and his eyes were fading quickly back to their original blue, but still retained the slit pupils. Sakura knew he was running off of the Kyuubi's Chakra at this point. Jinchuuriki Phenomena or not, Sakura's main concern was keeping him healthy.

"Sasuki'll be back training with us tomorrow. You'll need to be well rested for the what she'll probably want to do."

"Sasuki-chan's last choice of a sparring partner would be me right now, Sakura. We're not on the best of terms," Naruto said. Still, she'd probably have no other choice unless she wanted to go against Kakashi, and that probably wouldn't end well. _"She's worse than a teenage civilian and sex, only she's after a good fight."_

Sakura frowned. Was that why he was torturing himself like this? Why was it always so physical with boys? She'd never understand men even if she tried.

"I'm sure I can bring her around. Trust me, a few stories about the great and powerful Namikaze Naruto and she'll be dying for a fight with you."

Naruto smiled weakly at the pink haired girl. "You know, Sakura-chan," he said, enjoying the light blush she got when she was addressed by his old name for her, "I think I'm starting to remember why I used to have a crush on you in the academy. You're compassionate, and that's the quality I like best in a person."

Naruto's abrupt admittance had taken Sakura off guard, and the light blush that tinted her face wasn't unnoticed by the blonde.

"Hey, don't go thinking it's because I like you or anything. I just hate to see you so down. Come on, with the way you've been moping around it's like the sun got turned off during the dog days of summer. Yeah, it was frickin' hot and bright just like you're loud and annoying, but we kind of need it to survive and all."

Her analogy was amusing enough for the boy to chuckle at. "Yeah, I guess. I don't know, I told her everything that I felt and tried to explain myself, but she wasn't exactly open to the idea of quitting her shinobi career, if you catch my drift," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Look, I better get going."

The blonde walked off, leaving Sakura to stare at his back as he left. She knew she had to act fast. She dashed up from behind him and grabbed him by the bicep, a smirk washing over her face. "Hey, what do you say to me dragging you down to Ichiraku's and making you buy me some ramen. I hear they have some diet stuff now, and I really miss eating it from when I was a kid."

The twinkle in Naruto's eye that could only be likened to a missionary bringing someone back on the right path was all the answer she needed, and she then drug the boy towards the direction of the stand that could hopefully lift his spirits and get him out of his funk.

"_No one can resist the ramen…for long."_

* * *

Sakura never knew what to say when the rectangular rock started to follow them. Naruto either didn't notice or was ignoring it as he walked along casually with his hands in his pockets. The pinkette on the other hand couldn't help but do a double-take every few seconds. The clearly fake rock was made of what looked like cheap plastic, barely a millimeter thick, and had eye holes cut into it where large, clearly child-like eyes observed her movements.

"Um…Naruto?" Sakura asked. No sooner had the words left her mouth than had Naruto disappeared. His weight on the top of the cheap costume easily crushed the top in, weighing down the stalkers inside. When they escaped, three children immediately sprawled out on the ground.

"You're so mean, Naruto-oyabun!" The one with the spiky brown hair said in a whining tone.

"And your stealth sucks. Really, a square rock? You're lucky I'm in a good mood today or I would have sent you to the edge of Konoha with a half-strength rasengan. I thought you said you wanted ninja training, not to play kids' games," the blonde said harshly, crossing his arms and looking at the two males and one female in disappointment.

"Udon, I could hear your breathing even from inside that thing and five feet back with Sakura as a sound barrier. Moegi, I told you to stop wearing those charm bracelets when you're on a mission. Konohamaru, when are you going to learn that following from close behind someone doesn't help your case when trying to sneak up on a target."

Sakura was astonished that Naruto had unknowingly gained apprentices. For that matter, she was surprised that he was so tough on them. "Naruto, where did they come from?"

Naruto chuckled. "Oh, that's right. You haven't met the guys from the academy that I'm tutoring. These three are Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi. Konohamaru kind of snuck up on me one day while training with his old instructor. What can I say? He's the third's grandson and he liked me better. The old man basically forced the job on me. The extra cash doesn't hurt either."

Sakura's eyes widened at the information. Konohamaru was the Third's grandson? And Naruto was training him? That in and of itself was a testament to just how powerful Naruto had become. Maybe the Sandaime was just trying to distract Naruto with a new task. Kami knew the boy needed it since what happened in Wave Country. "I hope you're not teaching them anything perverted, Naruto!" Sakura said in an accusatory tone. Naruto just smirked at her.

"Come on, Sakura, you know me," Naruto replied calmly, "Doesn't she?" This time there was a slight amount of killing intent aimed at the group. This happened to be just enough to send Konohamaru and company running off in fear. The sound of the grandson of the Sandaime colliding with someone made Naruto shake his head. "Konohamaru, apologi-" Naruto said as he rounded the corner. His order to the boy was instantly halted when he saw his pupil being manhandled by an unknown Shinobi.

"On second thought, I think apologies are in order on both sides of this encounter," Naruto corrected, suddenly becoming cautious.

Kankuro looked up at Naruto with a scowl on his face. "What are you talking about, kid? This brat ran into me. If anyone's apologizing, it's him."

Naruto moved closer, suddenly feeling chakra connect with his foot. He glanced down to see what appeared to be a tripwire made of chakra coming from one of the boy's free fingers.

"So you're a puppet user, huh? Probably from Suna and here for the Chunin Exams. Look, I'll tell you right now, you're kinda physically abusing the Sandaime Hokage's Grandson. That's not to say that you should grovel or anything, but as a basic human being there's a higher chance of you being…reprimanded."

Kankuro scoffed and dropped Konohamaru. "Whatever, just make sure it doesn't happen again."

It was then that Naruto decided to notice the dirty blonde beside the black-garbed boy. "Kankuro, calm down. What do you think Gaara would do if he saw what you just did?"

"Who's this Gaara? He sounds strong," Naruto said, his old eager look breaking through all the emotional trauma. What was he thinking? Sakura hadn't even been able to tell why Naruto thought that this boy was a puppet user. What evidence did he have? Was it that bundle wrapped onto his back? If so, then what kind of Ninjutsu was it, even? And how did Naruto even know about it?

Konohamaru had long since run off with his friends, leaving Naruto and Sakura facing down Temari and Kankuro alone. Sakura had the unforgettable knot in her stomach that she chocked up to her womanly intuition that a fight was about to go down, and if the gleam in Naruto's eyes meant anything it was going to be a big one.

A sudden flicker hit Kankuro in the head, a stone clacking to the ground a half second later. All four Genin looked up to see Sasuki perched in a tree with another stone in her hand. "I suggest you leave my team mates alone. It's not good for your health to make trouble around here."

Naruto's expression instantly fell again. His reaction to Sasuki's appearance was less than desirable. "What are you doing here? You should still be recovering," Naruto said darkly. Sasuki's expression fell from grim confidence to what looked like a mixture of sorrow and regret.

"Shut up, Naruto-baka. You still need me to save your ass," she shot back. Naruto snorted at this, suddenly sensing a new arrival's chakra signature.

"Why don't you tell that to your friend in the tree over there," Naruto said, pointing to the branch next to her. Sasuki looked shocked at the short, redheaded Suna Genin's sudden arrival. He descended from the tree as a pile of sand and said pile moved towards the other two Suna Genin where it reformed. "You must be Gaara."

"Yes. What is your name?" the redhead replied, his voice calm and collected.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the blonde replied. He still had no idea where the surname came from. However, that was on his birth certificate, so he'd go with it. "You seem powerful, your chakra denotes that of a Jinchuuriki, and that 'Ai' on your forehead is making my eyes react. This will be an interesting Chunin Exams."

Naruto walked off without skipping a beat. Sasuki, slightly irritated that her moment had been stolen, took off after him and was tailed by Sakura. She was more than a little afraid to be left alone with those three. "Naruto, what the hell! That midget waltzes in and barely says three words, and you call him a Jinchuuriki? His chakra's on an entirely different level than yours!"

Naruto was tempted to deactivate all of his seals – something he didn't ever do – and let Sasuki decide for herself whether or not he was ready. He didn't, though. Not only would the sudden flare of chakra alert everyone with any ability nearby, but when it effectively passed over even her level of perception, she'd probably freak out.

"You're right. With my seals on, I probably wouldn't stand a chance against him. Still, I'm not going to watch you get yourself into a dangerous situation right after you get out of the hospital. I care about you. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm gonna go train a bit."

Leaving tore him apart. He couldn't believe he was just walking away. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and hold her and make her safe forever even if it meant stopping her ninja career, but he couldn't. That was the one thing he couldn't do no matter how powerful he was, so he distanced himself. He came to the realization that there was always the possibility that he'd fail to protect her again and lose her, and the idea of being faced with that loneliness made him cringe.

But did he really have a choice?

* * *

He'd retired to his apartment at least an hour before there was a soft tapping at his door. Naruto got out of bed groggily to answer the visitor, but one cautious glance through the peephole revealed it to be Sasuki Uchiha. "What the hell do you want?" he asked through the door calmly.

"I'm worried about you."

She was worried about him?

"What?" Naruto asked, truly perplexed by the sudden confession. The door had long since been open, and they were now talking face to face. "Why are you worried about me? Shouldn't this work the other way around."

"No. No it's not. Naruto, I don't care if I'm angry at you. I'm used to you being by my side no matter what, and when you just up and abandon me, I start worrying."

Naruto gazed at her in a mixture of anger and confusion

"What, so when I feel possessive over you it's wrong and you want to break up, but when you feel lonely I need to come crawling back to you?"

Sasuki took in a deep breath and shut her eyes. She'd been caught in her own stubbornness. "No, that's not what I meant at all. Look, I still love you, even if I do get mad with you. You wanted me to quit being a kunoichi! That's something I can't do, Naruto. What if I told you that I didn't want you to be the Hokage? What if…"

Naruto cut her off with a deep kiss to the lips. She was stunned for a few seconds, but slowly began working with it. He somehow knew how to torture her lips, and it drove her crazy. It made her left collar bone burn., and when he slowly pulled away from her, she was more than a little disappointed. "What…what the hell was that?"

"You told me once that Uchiha were considered to be the best kissers in all of Konoha. You were probably bragging, but I still think you were right. Sasuki, I love you to, but maybe that time that I talked about during the mission – the time that we needed to take off to focus on training – maybe it's a good idea to keep that going. I still don't know if I'm going to be able to protect you. If something like that ever happened again, and I tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra and killed someone, I don't know if I'd ever be the same. I just need time, okay?"

The girl didn't seem to have any opposition to the idea. Rather, she threw herself into him, his arms wrapping around her for a brief minute or so. That's all there was to it. There were no words, no explanation behind it, only a simple, sweet embrace. Still, she supposed she'd be too lucky if it came to an end that quickly. Before she knew it, he was back on the inside of the doorway with her standing outside of it.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuki," Naruto said as he shut his door softly. Sasuki frowned and turned away from his apartment, walking away much the same way as he had entered her hospital room that morning. The sudden sound of a fist on the wood of the door stopped her, but for no more than a second. She'd made a mistake, hadn't she? Oh well, she was an Uchiha.

She could live through this.

* * *

**So, are you squirming on the edge of your seats yet? I'm not, I know where this thing's going. Yaaaaaay.**


	13. Test

_**CREATIVE EXPLOSION!**_

_**That's literally the only thing that helped me accomplish completing this chapter in three days. That's 2000 words a day people. I'm in High School, but I'm taking College Level Courses. I don't have TIME for 2000 words a day. Okay, I'm kidding. I totally do. Thank a friend of mine who I got to read this thing and keeps bugging me to update.**_

_**Well...it's the start of the Chunin Exams. I love the Chunin Exams. I also love drama. Some of you are asking why I seem to hate the intended pairing of the story. I proclaim that it's because I love to screw with Naruto and Sasuki. So heads up, because A LOT happens in this chapter. It's why you're all getting the 1000 word bonus this time around.**_

_**FAITHFUL REVIEWERS! Your names this time around are: **_

_********__Chm01, CloudRed1988, zerohour20xx, NintendoGal55, ragnrok Kyuubi, Anon-Reader, Elemental Dragon Swordman, Virus, (blank), (blank), grimangel163, Legacy of The Demented, EternalKnight219, Victoriousvillain, The Last Rising of The Pheonix, xfighter4, "ps im a guy," Desturion, RedRangerBelt, Still Not Dead Yet, Hells Mercenary, Cruel Vamp, Clove15, and edward kizuru._

_********__Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Even you, edward. You reviewed at the last freaking minute, and you're lucky I was on my e-mail at the time, or you may not have made it on the list. I ish lazy _;_

* * *

It had been a full week since anyone had even seen Naruto. He hadn't been at his house, Ichiraku Ramen had told Sakura he'd bought a week's worth of their Miso Ramen and packed it up into meal-sized portions before taking off in the opposite direction of his apartment with his backpack full of survival tools.

"He's probably just on a training trip before The Exams. It's best we leave him be for now," Sasuki offered when Sakura seemed a little downtrodden. Everyone had gathered around for an early meeting, the only kind Kakashi ever seemed to be on time for, and were about to discuss a training regimen for the following week at their typical meeting spot.

"I know," Sakura sighed, "but he promised he'd help me work on my Suiton skills. I don't want to be the weakest link this time around. Do you know how frustrating it was to not even be able to _move_ when Zabuza and Kakashi started fighting? And then when Naruto…" Sakura's voice trailed off, realizing that Naruto probably hadn't told her about exactly how he'd defeated Haku.

"When Naruto what, Sakura?" Sasuki asked with a chilled tone in her voice. She was still overly suspicious of anything having to do with the blonde, and Sakura sounded like she was about to let something big slip out. "Isn't the dobe still fairly weak? The way he told the story, it sounded like the only reason he didn't get hurt was because of that Doujutsu of his. I'm personally surprised he has one, even if he doesn't belong to a clan."

Sakura gave the girl a weak smile. "Naruto can be an idiot sometimes. I honestly can't believe he didn't tell you about his father, or any of the other jutsu that he has that saved us during that mission."

Sasuki blinked twice at Sakura's comment. "What are you talking about? He said that the Doujutsu he uses ramps up his Fuuinjutsu skills, so he can make the stupid amount of gravity and chakra seals he wears to make him more powerful. He never said anything about jutsu besides the Kage Bunshin and those seals. It sounded to me like he just blew through everything with giant amounts of chakra and a bunch of endurance."

Sakura let a small grin adorn her features. "Leave it to Naruto to not tell you about how important he was to that mission. Look, there are probably a few things he skipped out on, even from the beginning. Did he tell you what he did during the bell test?"

"He took a knee to the gut so he could pickpocket Kakashi-sensei, right?" she asked.

"Right, but that's only after he wore Kakashi-sensei down with a jutsu clash. He used a Rasengan and was moving too fast so Kakashi-sensei had to counter with a Raikiri. It was a pretty light show, but neither of them really took any damage."

Sasuki looked at Sakura in a puzzled manner, quirking an eyebrow. "What's a Rasengan? Sounds like some kind of wind jutsu."

"It goes something like this," Kakashi said, holding out a hand as swirling chakra amassed into it. "And it's more shape manipulation than nature. It's one of the Jutsu the Yondaime made up. As to how Naruto knows it, I'm only clued in on the fact that our favorite blonde's last name is actually Namikaze. I'm assuming he found the scroll on it and decided to learn it. Same for the Hiraishin."

Sasuki shook her head at the sudden influx of information. Naruto had promised not to lie to her, but apparently he'd been holding back about some of his more interesting skills. She scoffed at how Sakura seemed awestruck as to why Kakashi could do the Rasengan. "Where did you learn that one, sensei? Copy it from Naruto with your Sharingan?"

Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle. "No, I learned it straight from the source. When I was a Genin my sensei was the Yondaime. Of course, we all called him Namikaze Minato back then, but that's hardly the point," the Cyclops said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Sakura and Sasuki both decided that questioning more about their Sensei's past would only lead to more confusion. Then again, in ten years they would probably be getting the same questions and confused looks when their team asked what it was like to be on the same squad as the Hokage. Not that either of them would admit to the fact that they thought Naruto could easily be in the running for such a position, but they knew it in the back of their minds nonetheless. "Still, we should probably drop the Naruto subject. He's doing his own thing, and that just means that he'll have a few more tricks up his sleeve when he shows up for the exams tomorrow," Sakura offered. Sasuki nodded, and the two girls threw their all back into training.

For the next few hours, Sasuki and Sakura went over their taijutsu skills. Sakura had been the springboard for Sasuki to remember her physical capabilities and how they'd changed since her memory loss. The Uchiha was nearly back up to the level she was at before thanks to chakra and muscle memory. She'd remembered a majority of her fire jutsu and a lot of her clan's fighting style that she'd been working on. She'd be ready for the exams once her adrenaline kicked in and she started working with her instincts.

Sakura on the other hand had come leaps and bounds ahead of where she was since her graduation. Not only did she have a few water and earth jutsu under her belt, but the fact that she'd continued to use Naruto's ungodly chakra suppression seal had boosted her reserves up past the level where she'd faint after performing a few Kawarimi. With Naruto out doing Kami knows what, Kakashi was sure his team would have no problems with the exam. Sure, Iruka had given him a bit of a hard time and wanted to test the three of them, but Kakashi had looked at the brown haired man knowingly, stating that he was more than confident that all of the members of his team would pass.

_**FLASHBACK**_

"What? Kakashi, are you forgetting that Sakura only graduated because she was the top student in her written work? The survival portion of the exam could easily kill her, especially with the proctor this year. It's Anko, Kakashi. ANKO!"

Kakashi had nodded in respect to the man's concerns. "I think you're underestimating my teaching skills a bit, Iruka-san. Sakura's become rather proficient in Suiton and Douton Techniques for a Genin about to take the exams. I've also sent her down to the hospital a few times to take classes, but I don't know how much progress she's made in Medical Ninjutsu."

Iruka was quieted after that. Obviously if Kakashi could teach a Genin elemental manipulation, he was capable of telling when they were ready to pass the Chunin Exams. "And what of Sasuki? Her injuries…"

"Have not stopped her from training, and she has remembered most of her Shinobi skills despite not remembering how she obtained them. And before you ask, Naruto is the powerhouse of my team. I know as a village we don't break up the skill levels between ranks, but if we were to use that system I would place him at around mid to high Chunin already."

That silenced Iruka, and the Hokage certainly didn't seem to have any objections to allowing Squad Seven to participate in the exams. "Very well, Kakashi. I'll allow your Genin to participate. Though…I am aware of some of Naruto's other assorted training. I'd like to put him to the test myself."

Every mouth fell open at this statement, including Kakashi's. "Hokage-sama, are you saying that you want to fight Naruto?" The very idea of the blonde doing battle with the leader of the village simply didn't compute in the minds of the gathered Shinobi. The Hokage's uproarious laughter at this statement sent a sigh of relief throughout the crowd. The old man hadn't gone completely senile just yet.

"Far from it, Kakashi. I want him to look after my grandson for a bit and see what kind of skills he can pass on. I'll arrange for Ebisu to take a vacation so Naruto can have a little more wiggle room."

Kakashi couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Naruto training a first-year academy student. He supposed that tutors were usually pulled like this, but the fact that it was his blonde-haired pupil, who before then had never even met Konohamaru, just made the thought so very laughable.

_**FLASHBACK END**_

As if Kakashi had performed a summoning jutsu, Konohamaru appeared in a panting, sweating mess before collapsing on the ground. Before Kakashi could even ask, a streak of orange and black made itself visible from the treeline no more than ten feet behind the silver haired Jounin before darting back into the forest.

Sasuki and Sakura had both stopped mid-punch to look at the collapsed boy in a mixture of confusion and surprise. "Kono, what the hell?" Sakura asked, running over to attend to him, her hands already glowing green with a basic first-aid jutsu.

"Naruto-Oyabun is a dictator, Sakura-neechan," the little boy proclaimed as he rolled over to receive the full effect of the jutsu. "He took me out real deep in the woods and gave me all these exercises to do, then he left me with some Kage Bunshin before running off to do his own thing. I didn't get to go look, but there were these really big crashes every once in a while. It freaked me out at first, but the clones told me that Oyabun was just doing some heavy-duty training."

Kakashi cut the boy off after that. "I'm not liking the sound of this. You two go check on Naruto, his chakra's finally readable again, so he must be ready to be found," he instructed. He picked up Konohamaru's limp form after that and with a wave he walked off. "I'm sure Sandaime-sama will be pleased to know that his grandson has been training hard."

"RULE ONE OF NARUTO'S TRAINING! DO NOT TALK ABOUT NARUTO'S TRAINING!" Konohamaru reflexively yelled, suddenly spasming in Kakashi's arms.

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, yes, Konohamaru. Good job remembering the basics," his reply came with a tone of boredom. Sakura and Sasuki felt just a tad sorry for the boy. Sakura because she knew how rough of a Sensei Naruto could be, and Sasuki because the boy had obviously been placed under some sort of terrible genjutsu-based torture if he was saying things like that.

"_Wait…Naruto sucks at Genjutsu. Don't tell me the idiot actually managed to mentally break a child!"_ she thought with a bit of fear for her blonde team mate rising in her stomach. "Come on, Sakura. We should get him before he hurts himself more than he already is."

Sakura's mirth was made evident by the way she giggled at the statement. "Sasuki, you sound a bit worried about him," she said. It was a desperate attempt to poke a little fun at the girl who had just beaten her butt. Well, it wasn't her fault that had happened. Sakura had been wearing more gravity and chakra seals than she had. For ninjas, those things were like drugs. They altered your sense of what was normal, and the high when you took them off could be enticing. Of course, no negative side-effects had been found save in for those who wore too many for their current skill level.

Of course Sasuki was surprised when Sasuki's chakra flared and she began to move quickly. The pinkette had to move quickly to deactivate her own seals and try to keep up. "Bitchiha," Sakura addressed Sasuki by the nicknames they'd developed during their recent sparring match, "where'd you get those seals!"

Sasuki's own laugh as the two sped across the field and into the forest, taking to the trees. "Who makes all of our training seals, Whoruno?" The Uchiha replied curtly. Sakura growled. Naruto had given her more seals that her. Well, she should have expected it. Even if the seals only worked for twenty-four hours of use before Naruto needed to re-charge them, Sasuki had been training with the blonde for a lot longer than she had. It made sense that Sasuki's collection would be vaster than her own.

The two females had quickly encroached on Naruto's temporary camp, completely shocked at what they saw. Everywhere they looked, trees had been uprooted or broken and collapsed. Stones had crevices that didn't look natural, and the ground held several craters. It was a variable warzone that Naruto had created. "This better be his training ground. If he could make Konohamaru do this, I don't want to see what Naruto's capable of now," Sakura said in a rueful tone.

"Somebody say my name?" The familiar voice echoed from above as a sudden change in air pressure signaled Sasuki and Sakura to move as their blonde teammate came crashing to the ground. "I feel great!" The blonde said, pumping a fist into the air. His training outfit consisted of his typical orange ninja pants and a wild grin.

"**DAMN! Without those seals on him Naruto's muscle build certainly ain't too shabby!" **Inner Sakura, for the first time in what Sakura had hoped to be forever, screamed from the recesses of the Haruno's mind.

"_Shut up! If you can keep quiet for months on end, why are you talking now!"_ Sakura said, looking away from Naruto with a light blush tinting her cheeks. Oh Kami he had an eight back. No one in Konoha even had the genes for an eight pack! Her biology instructor had told her when he went over the different weaknesses in muscle groups for Shinobi training.

"**Yeah, because there was nothing going on that needed my attention. Seriously, now that there's a viable option out there instead of all those half-baked losers you **_**used**_** to date I'm surprised I didn't pop up sooner. Like during your Suiton training!"**

The blush on Sakura's face only deepened as she remembered how particularly wet (with WATER) she'd gotten during that first session with Naruto, and how she'd thought he didn't look half-bad soaked either. _"But Naruto loves Sasuki! And she loves him!"_

"**Correction, she **_**loved**_** him. Past tense. He's back to being the dobe and you've got an easy road to landing a sexy blonde! I'm your baser instincts, girl. If I wasn't around you'd talk yourself into it eventually anyways."**

"Naruto, put a damn shirt on. You're going to kill Hinata from blood loss if you go walking around like that," Sakura said with a hint of irritation in her voice as she chose to ignore her Inner Self. Naruto only nodded and went into his tent, pulling on a clean white shirt with, of course, an orange spiral pattern on the back of it.

"Why would Hinata die of blood loss? I mean sure, she's sick all the time, but I don't think that has anything to do with me walking around shirtless," the blonde asked after throwing on the shirt.

"You're completely clueless, aren't you?" Sasuki asked with a sigh, "Whatever, you'll figure it out eventually. Come on, we have to go get ready for the exams. And Dobe, would it kill you to cut your hair every now and again? You're going all shaggy on us."

No more was said as the team walked out of the forest. Naruto liked it better that way. He kept his wide grin as his cerulean orbs, now with slit pupils, glistened cunningly in the light.

* * *

Upon entering the Academy with their registration forms, Squad Seven quickly ascended the first flight of steps. The crowd by the door that read room 301, even though if anyone cared to look slightly to the left they would have noticed that the room next to it read 202 and all other doors afterwards followed suit, was frustrated by the group of guards that looked like smaller versions of ninja Naruto couldn't quite place names to, but knew guarded the village gates.

"Whaddya mean you won't let us in? We're here to take the Chunin Exams all the way from Iwa! Not letting us in…"

"Look, kid. You don't want to go in there. If you do, you're gonna fail the test. It's obvious you aren't ready for it yet, so why don't you go cry back to the Tsuchikage and see what he says?"

The Iwa Genin cocked a fist back and threw it, a wild look in his eye. Instinctively, the guard with the bandages wrapped around his nose prepared to throw a roundhouse kick to counter. Before the two techniques could collide, however, a blur of green got between the two and in the blink of an eye grabbed the Iwa nin's fist and the shin of the boy in front of the door. "Violence is not a way to solve our conflicts," he warned.

Naruto's eyebrow quirked at the appearance to the strange boy. He wore a green spandex jumpsuit and had a flipping bowl cut, for Kami's sake. "Lee, you promised that you'd hide your skills until later," came the whining voice of who Naruto could only assume to be his female teammate. The other one, a Hyuuga by the looks of it, seemed to not care as he was too busy standing in the back of the crowd with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

"_My prick-dar is going insane!"_ Naruto thought to himself as he rubbed the spot in between his eyes. "Look, I'm gonna save all of you a lot of trouble, even though it'll probably hurt me in the long-run. That floor you were on before you walked upstairs? That was floor one. Now, if we're going in numerical order – assuming you can all count – the next floor above that would be?"

There were several moments of silence before from somewhere in the crowd someone muttered, "Two?"

"_Right!_ And if we're supposed to go to floor _three_…" Naruto let his voice trail off.

"We should all be going to the next floor above this for the test?"

Naruto nodded and began to walk up the next flight of stairs, which were conveniently located just to the right of the flight going down to the ground floor. Mumbles of "Smartass," and "Didn't have to be so mean about it," filled the crowd that followed behind Sasuki, Sakura, and himself.

When they entered the room, a hand clasped on Naruto's shoulder. The owner of the hand was a silver-haired, four-eyed boy who wore a leaf headband around his forehead. "You know, some of us were having fun watching the show back there. I respect you for being the nice guy, but your way of helping probably earned you a few more enemies than you wanted to make. My names Yakushi Kabuto, buy the way."

"Kabuto, like the…"

"Yes. Like the Pokémon. Now shut up before I kill you. Look, I've been doing some research, and you might want to watch your back this time around. There are a lot of abnormally strong Genin here this year," Kabuto stated, pushing up his glasses.

"Oh really, and how do you keep all that information? You some kind of egg-head?" Naruto retorted.

"Nah, keeping track of information is easy," Kabuto chuckled, "with my Ninja Info Cards." As if to accentuate the notion, Kabuto held up a deck of orange-backed cards that all appeared to be blank. "Of course, for security purposes, they're all chakra coded so that only I can use them. Each one carries information about a ninja from any of the elemental nations."

"So flash cards on steroids? Cool," Naruto replied with a shrug. "Got any info on me? That'd be pretty fun to check out. The name's Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki Naruto…let's see here," Kabuto said as he pumped chakra into the card. "Seems you've been on 20 D Rank missions," there was a pause to let the laughter at Naruto's inexperience die down, "And…one A-Rank?" Naruto's wild grin more than made up for the earlier laughter. "Partners are Uchiha Sasuki and Haruno Sakura. Specializes in Ninjutsu because of his abnormally large chakra reserves, but proficiency in that category is balanced out by average Taijutsu and Mediocre-at-best Genjutsu coupled with no weapon skills to speak of, better solve that one quick. I hear that soon it'll be a requirement around here to be proficient in a few different weapon styles in order to make Jounin, but anyways it also says that you've come back from every mission with little to no injuries to speak of."

That's when Kiba decided to put his two ryou in. "No frikin' way did you go on an A-ranked mission. An idiot like you would die the second he left Hi no Kuni's borders!" The Inuzuka shouted. Everyone else instantly agreed with him, but Naruto just smirked.

"Zabuza the Demon of The Bloody Mist. Ever heard of him? Fought the guy. Would have kicked his ass too if Hatake-sensei hadn't been busy drowning like an idiot," Naruto proclaimed. His assertions were quickly brushed off, especially by the Mist Genin, rather quickly as nothing but tall tales.

"Stop lying, idiot. It's a filing error and you know it," Kiba shot back. Naruto shrugged at the boy's comment.

"Believe what you want to, dog-breath. I know when I'm telling the truth. Hey, Pikachu, what do you have on Sabaku no Gaara?" Naruto asked, glancing at Kabuto again.

With a sigh and barely suppressed killing intent, Kabuto placed another card down on the table. "Forty-six D-ranks, 20 C-ranks, partners are Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankuro. Proficient in Taijutsu and Above-average in Ninjutsu because of chakra levels, but shares the same score as you in genjutsu. Oh, and apparently he's never suffered an injury while on a mission. Whoop-de-freaking-doo."

Naruto chuckled at this. "Ah, come on Pikachu, lighten up. We're gonna be Chunin pretty soon. Tell ya what, I've got your back when the chaos starts. Consider it a thank you gift for the good show."

"I'm going to kill you…" Kabuto said darkly, not even attempting to mask his twitch.

"Naruto, leave the poor Pokémon alone," Sasuki said with mirth in her voice. She had to admit, Naruto was taking full advantage of Kabuto's name. She liked him. It. She liked it. _"When the hell do I have Freudian Slips? Why the hell do I think that's a Freudian Slip in the first place?"_

Naruto nodded, taking a second look around the room. "Huh…looks like I've attracted a bit too much attention, huh?" The blonde asked. A mere glance around the room put several angry stares in Naruto's general direction. "They think they scare me. Ha, compared to the streets outside this is like a walk in the park," the blonde said with a shrug.

"N-Naruto-kun…I think it would be a good idea if you took your seat now."

Naruto looked down at the sudden use of the all-too-familiar suffix on his name. The lavender eyed female that seemed laser-focused on the table before her was the source of the voice. "Yeah…you're probably right, Hinata. I think I've caused enough trouble for myself as it is," he said as he sat down next to the girl. He took note of the immense blush on her face. His experiences with Sasuki told him exactly what that meant.

"_Could she…"_ suddenly it all clicked. The stuttering, the fevers, even Sakura's off-handed comment while sharing the same look, it all lead up to one explanation. Hinata had a huge crush on him, and he had been oblivious to the whole thing. If there weren't so many people around, Naruto would have considered slamming his head against the desk a few dozen times. "_How could I have been such an idiot?"_

However, before he could take any actions to address the sudden appearance of a problem, the door opened. "All right you little shit-stains, listen up! My name is Morino Ibiki, and I'll be the proctor for the first exam. You'll be taking your seats now, or you'll be forcibly removed from the room and stripped of your status as a Shinobi."

That certainly calmed the room down. Each Genin was quickly assigned a number and a seat. They were clustered around the room, but surprisingly Naruto and Hinata were allowed to remain in the same spot. "Now, for all of you who are too scared to remember, this is the first stage of the exams. You'll be taking a written test assessing the basic knowledge of all Chunin. There will be other Chunin spread around the room. If you are caught cheating you will lose two points. There are ten questions worth one point each. For those of you that can do your math that means if you get caught cheating five times, you automatically fail."

"_Shit. A written exam. I'm no good at these!"_ Naruto cried. The gods of Ramen had forsaken him to be struck with such poor luck this early on. He didn't have any jutsu he could use! Shadow Clones would be too obvious, since they created puffs of smoke when created and destroyed. He couldn't use and henge them into bugs or something. Besides, that was Shino's thing. He wanted to pass this test with some originality.

Wait…could he use his Fuuingan? Was that even possible? Sasuki would probably use hers to copy the movements of the people who had the answers, and knowing Sakura she probably had the answers all memorized anyways. Wait a second…five tries to cheat? Don't you typically fail if you get lower than a sixty percent? Why let it go as low as zero unless…

"_This is about stealing information, isn't it? Well…I better not be obvious about it anyways. It might be 'covert ops,' so I better keep things low profile._"

But what if he already knew the answers? Well, not him per se, but someone he could get the answers from without cheating off another person? When the test got handed out, Naruto simply let his eyes glaze over as he drifted off, looking absent-mindedly at the paper.

He found himself in the all-too-familiar sewer he had come to memorize in the past week. He'd figured that if he wanted to really improve on anything important, it would have to be chakra-control related. Of course, that led to meditation, which lead to this state of mind he was currently in. The familiar pattern that took him down four pathways of equal length, each with a right turn at the end, lead him not back to where he started like what the square pattern suggested, but to the cage of the Kyuubi.

"Alright furball, it's time for you to wake up. I assume you remember our agreement," Naruto said with supreme confidence. The blood red eyes that opened beyond the bars held nothing but spite behind them before they calmed, if only the smallest bit.

"_**Do you honestly think that I'd be interested in helping you? What do I gain from using my vast intellect to assist you in a pathetic exam?"**_ The mightiest of the Bijuu growled at the blonde.

"Because if I don't pass this exam, there's more than a good chance that I'll never become Hokage, which means that I won't have the authority to track down that Uchiha Madara you seem to hate so much.

**FLASHBACK**

Naruto had just perfected a few of the more creative jutsu he'd need for the Chunin Exams. He'd made it his goal in life to use as few run-of-the-mill jutsu as possible. No Suiryuudan, Suijinheki, or Daitoppa for him. They were way too predictable for him to effectively use while keep his "unpredictable" moniker. So instead he'd gone into mental training yet again after another grueling round of chakra control training. He couldn't wait to show off the new ideas he'd already come up with in the exams. They'd have to make him a Jounin.

Of course, the downside to this mental training is that he couldn't let himself slip too far into his own consciousness or he'd have to listen to that damn furball for hours before he was aware enough to get out of that state of mind. Unfortunately, he'd seemed to have slipped into his own subconscious again, only to be greeted by his tenant. _**"So kit, did you come back to hear more of my stories or are you just hell-bent on showing me how pathetic you are?"**_

The sudden burst of wind chakra that surrounded Naruto's entire form in a bladed cloak surprised the Kyuubi. He'd known the boy had been developing new techniques, but this looked like a wind-chakra version of the Thunder Armor technique passed down through the Raikage's family line. _**"Kit…what do you call that jutsu?"**_

"Fuujin Karada no Jutsu," Naruto replied bluntly, pushing out his fist at high velocity and with little wind resistance as a massive gale slammed into the bars. "Huh…seems that the seal works both ways," he commented as the jutsu shut itself off. "Now kindly leave me alone and stop insulting my father. You got your ass handed to you fair and square."

The Kyuubi chuckled. _**"Ah, your temper reminds me of your mother. She's been my favorite container as of yet. Let me do what I wanted, and I was in a jungle instead of some dank sewer or a bottomless ravine like your Kami-knows-how-many-greats Grandmother."**_

Naruto's head whipped around from the meditative pose he'd taken on. "What the hell do you know about my mother.

"_**Who, Kushina-chan?"**_ He'd used the honorific as he would if he were addressing a child, _**"We go way back. She had, dare I say, a worse temper than you did. Was part of the Uzumaki Clan. I'm surprised you haven't seen any of them in that book you're always toting around."**_

Naruto blinked a few times. He'd seen a few Uzumaki entries in the Table of Contents, but they were marked as part of the second and final volume. He'd only recently finished the first one, and hadn't seen the second anywhere. Why he couldn't find _History of the Kage and Other Elite Ninja of the Shinobi World Volume 2_ anywhere in Konoha aggravated him. Didn't everyone know how great of a book it was? It was fairly new, though. And it seemed that every time the Bingo Books got updated, which happened to be in a few days, the Shinobi that had been added to it for some sort of famous action seemed to end up in a new volume.

"They probably just ran out of room in mine. They'll be in the next edition," Naruto defended his family name unconsciously. The Kyuubi chuckled.

"_**Sure, after all, a clan that's completely extinct doesn't need to be rushed into an informational book. Kit, you'd be much better off just asking me about your temperamental bitch of a mother."**_

"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER LIKE THAT!" The blonde screamed, another burst of wind-chakra rocking the bars of the cage.

"_**Fiesty one, aren't you kit? That makes them so much more fun. Tell you what, I'll give you some access to my library of knowledge in exchange for some entertainment. These…Chunin Exams…that are coming up, yes? They'll have fighting?"**_

Naruto smirked, "Yeah, what about it?"

"_**Analyze this seal with your father's cursed Doujutsu. Find a way to put some wiggle room so I can see and hear what's going on outside. Of course, that will also increase the flow of my chakra out of the seal, so to prevent any hazardous side-effects…say the seal coming unraveled and me laying waste to your insignificant town, not that I'd much care to mind you, You'll have to amplify the rate at which my chakra is mixed with your own."**_

Naruto stood there dumbfounded. "A few questions…when did you get smart…and what do you mean you wouldn't want to destroy Konoha?"

"_**THAT DAMNED UCHIHA MADARA AND HIS WRETCHED SHARINGAN! He thought he was so clever wearing that mask, but I would know his chakra anywhere. He waited until the moment of your birth, when the seal was weakened to the point where my chakra was so hard to contain that it nearly burst, and then he ripped me out of your mother and took control of me with that damned Tsukuyomi on me!**_"

Naruto had enough knowledge of the Sharingan at that point to know what would have happened. "He _made_ you attack the village?"

"_**Score one for the kit. Seriously, if I'd wanted to get myself sealed away inside of you I totally would have stayed anyways, but seeing as how I prefer fresh air to sewer water I probably would have just run off. Now look where I am, all because of that idiot! Although, I probably wouldn't have forcibly removed myself from your mother. As much as she irritated me at some times, it was definitely more peaceful with her than falling down and down forever in the soul of your two-hundred year old grandmother. "**_

Naruto nodded, "So what you want me to do is let you see and hear the outside? Well, that can be arranged, so long as you promise not to try and bust out while I'm doing it. Heck, who knows, the extra chakra could lead to some benefits."

"_**Indeed. Now the rules are simple. I'll listen to your reasons for needing help, no matter how stupid they are, and if it benefits me in some way whether it be immediately or in the long run then I'll be more than happy to offer my assistance."**_

"Deal!" With that, Naruto quickly got to work.

**FLASHBACK END**

The next day the Bingo Books had been updated, and Naruto spent a good three hours going over every last detail he could find on Kushina Uzumaki in any book he could find. He'd finally broken down and gone to the Hokage, who had gladly told him everything. Sarutobi told him that he'd tell him anything else if he was interested, but a law he'd passed said that Naruto would have to ask.

"_Old man didn't even think of asking me if I wanted to know about my parents. Well, at least I know where I come from now. Though if I see my dad in the afterlife I'm gonna give him a good punch in the gut. Guy had the nerve to hate Ramen. I'm sorry I look so much like him,"_ the blonde grumbled. It turned out that the flak jackets and all the clothing Naruto wore had the spirals on them for a reason. It was the mark of Uzushiogakure, one of Konoha's allies, and his mother's home country. Iwa and Kumo had teamed up and wiped the village out entirely. Konoha took the survivors in, and with the advanced sealing skills of the Uzumaki women as well as the longevity of the entire clan, they became a great force.

Naruto smirked at the memories as he opened his eyes. _"Not to mention that if I fail this part of the exam and get kicked out, I won't be able get into the next round. I bet you there's fighting in the next round. Maybe people will start bleeding."_

The Kyuubi was oddly silent for a second. Naruto could swear it was salivating at the prospect. _**"The answer to the first question is 42!"**_ He suddenly cried out. Naruto put on his foxy grin as he began writing down answers that were slowly fed to him.

"_Yeah. This exam's gonna be a piece of cake,"_ The blonde thought calmly. Forgetting about the fact that Hinata was beside him, blushing fiercely at his sudden flare of confidence as she focused on her own work.

* * *

_**I love me some Inner Sakura, Hinata crushes, Humanized Kyuubi, and Animalistic Naruto. Yes. I'm pure evil. Think of me what you will.**_

_**Also, since I've gotten no requests to advertise fics in the past three days, I'll post one of my own and pray to God the author doesn't hate me for it.**_

_**Legacy of The Rasengan: It's a series. And a loooooong one. No romance yet, but some good Naruto action. I'm not all that far into it, but I like it. You should check it out.**_

_**It's NaruHina. I'm not biased. I picked a good story. Send me any het Naruto pairing fic...or any Naruto-centric fic really...and I'll read through the first few chapters and see which one I'd like to advertise in this little corner of the net. Even if it's your fic, don't be discouraged from sending it in. I may offer a few tips if it is, even though I'm a crappy writer.**_

_**Anyways, Review Please! It makes me happy, and puts me .1% closer to being in the 1000+ communities. Don't you guys want to see a FEMSasu fic in there? I know I do.**_

_**~Hikaru**_


	14. Sakura and Hinata like WHO?

**_Hello all,_**

**_I'M BACK!_**

**_-ehem-_**

**_So yeah, it's been a while. I'm sick, and thus have no comments. I've also decided that for the time being I'll stop crediting reviewer in the comments, seeing as I already respond to several of you personally via PM. I haven't gotten any suggestions for fanfic adverts, so once again I'm going to put in a shamless self-plug to my fictionpress account that is literally UNDER THE SAME NAME AS THIS ONE. There you can view the actual story of my own personal character. I can't promise quality from that one, as it's old and I stopped updating since it was never really popular, but if it picks up I might post the edited version on there as well as a few side-stories having to do with extraneous plot bunnies here and there._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever owned any element of this story that may pertain to the Anime/Manga/Video Game/Movie that I used as the source material._**

* * *

It was sheer reflex alone with which Naruto shot his hand up, grabbing a kunai that was whizzing by his face by the handle. The Chunin who had thrown it looked at him with wide eyes. He'd only ever seen Jounin pull off stunts like that. Were this kid's senses even human?

Naruto looked over at the man and grinned. "No need to resort to such flashy measures for kicking the guy to my right out. Seriously, he's looking right at my paper, could he be _any_ _more obvious_?" Naruto pointed out with an obvious edge in his voice. The Genin looked down in disappointment, standing up and leaving the room silently with his team mates.

Hinata looked shocked from the reaction Naruto had, her heart nearly beating out of her chest. The kunai had whizzed past her forehead so quickly she didn't have time to react. If the proctor's aim had been just an inch off she'd be lying on the ground with a kunai in her head. Well, maybe she'd be lying against Naruto if the force of the blow carried her in that direction. What would dying in his arms feel like? Would he get angry and swear to avenge her? Would he cry despite himself?

Hinata quickly shook her head, removing the overly dramatic thoughts from her mind. She needed to focus on this test. Well, actually no she didn't. It was all fairly basic math, physics, chemistry, and all those other subjects that civilians went to school for. She knew enough about them to answer the questions quickly, and anything she didn't know she could pick up with a quick gaze around the room via Byakugan. As she started absentmindedly scribbling down the answer, she felt her mind drift off to the land of her imagination. Her eyes glazed over as a small smirk adorned her features, and she allowed herself to drift off peacefully into her own machinations.

Naruto's pencil clacked against the desk with a rude loudness. He had finished his stream of answers probably the fourth or fifth fastest of anyone. _"You see, was that so hard?_" He thought to his tenant. The Kyuubi let out a growl warning the blonde not to overstep his boundaries unless he no longer wanted his head and spine attached. _**"I expect bloodshed in the near future, kit," **_was the only reply he received. Naruto chuckled, shaking out his somewhat sore hand and popping the knuckles in both as he reclined in his chair. This always happened when he had to write a lot, even with regeneration. Hands that cramped easy sucked in general, but seal makers were especially poor off given that a majority of their work required a lot of writing.

So Naruto sat there, his paper turned over and his pencil twirling in his fingers as he looked around the room. He took note of the sand eye floating above Gaara's head, and the Byakugan active in both Neji's and Hinata's case. The Kusa Nin all seemed to be done, though Naruto was wary of the foul air coming off the one in the hat. As for Pikachu, he was sitting in his desk, fiddling with the position of his glasses on his nose and scribbling down answers. His eyes flickered over to Sakura and then Sasuki, who both seemed to be doing alright, as they were seated right next to one another and seemed to be pulling off some sort of girl telepathy as Sakura was only a step or two behind Sasuki, who had her Sharingan active.

As much fun as it was spotting the cheaters and the nerds, it lost its appeal about thirty minutes in. Now Naruto was fidgeting in his chair with enough pent up energy to power a boss summoning. He needed to _move_ damn it! Ibiki seemed to be taking some sort of sick pleasure out of it, though. Naruto was tempted to dash over and claw him in the face a good time or two, but realized that this probably wasn't the best strategy for passing the test and tried his best to contain himself.

Finally Ibiki stood from his chair. "It's time for question ten, maggots. Be careful though, anyone who fails to answer correctly will be asked to leave with their team. Now, the same will happen if you choose not to accept it, and I don't really think that's too much fun. So this year I raised the stakes a little."

"_And pause for dramatic effect…" _Naruto thought with a smirk.

"Anyone who takes the tenth question and fails to answer correctly will not only be asked to leave with their team, but they will be barred from taking the Chunin Exams for life!"

The weight of the statement even shocked Naruto, admittedly. Barred for life? Was that even possible? No, it couldn't be. But what if it was? Would he really risk everything and take the question? He had no reason to stand up and leave, of course, but could he count on Sasuki and Sakura to get whatever it was right? No, they were fine on their own. Even so, he still felt a lot more stressed. This was a lot of pressure, after all. He had to do this, though. He had to fight Gaara, still.

Something unexpected happened, all of a sudden. The nerds who had answered all the questions without cheating off of someone else stood up one by one and began to file out of the room, expressing their disappointment in their own abilities. Naruto twitched a little at this. Was it some kind of mind game? Regardless, several others began to stand up and walk out. This bothered the blonde for some reason. They'd worked damn hard on gathering all that info, and they were the ones who'd claimed to be able to take him down. Didn't they have pride?

"Where the hell do you idiots think you're going? I thought you said you were gonna take me down," Naruto seethed. The group looked back at him with angry glares. The blonde smirked at this, standing up and turning to face them. "We worked our asses off in this test, and if you're going to back down now then none of you deserved to be called a Chunin in the first place! I don't care if I'm a stuck as a Genin forever! I don't care if they stick me with nothing but D-ranks for the rest of my life! I'm still going to become Hokage one day-ttebayo!"

Suddenly the boy in the green jumpsuit slammed his fists on his desk and stood from his seat. "Naruto-kun! Your youth inspires me to do the best that I can! It burns with the white hot intensity of a supernova! I shall rise to the challenge of this tenth question as well!"

The room fell silent at Lee's outburst, but the determination of each tester was still there. Those that had stood moved to sit back down, and suddenly a grouping of seventy-five strong was back sitting in front of their tests, awaiting the tenth question.

Sasuki rested her head on her fist with a smirk. Naruto could give one hell of a speech when he needed to. Sakura was giggling a little at everyone's antics, as this was probably the most exciting written test she'd ever taken. Naruto had a wild grin on his face, his slit blue eyes looking directly into Ibiki's with an intense glare. "So, any other warnings, or can we answer your damn question already?"

It was certainly unexpected for the proctor to start laughing the way he did. It was a loud, bellowing sort of thing that lasted a good long while. "Congratulations," he managed to get out through his hysterics, "you all pass onto the next stage of the exam."

The shock in the room was nearly audible and the cheers that erupted right afterwards seemed to defy any previous rivalries formed. Team mates locked arms with one another and exchanged high fives, couples who happened to be on the same team embraced one another or perhaps shared a kiss if they were a little more intimate, and Naruto joined Ibiki in his laughter.

"You mean that the whole purpose of the test was to stress us out and then see which of us cracked under pressure when offered an out?" The blonde chuckled. Ibiki's nod sent the blonde further into his giggle-fest as he clutched his stomach and nearly fell out of his chair. "Man did I screw your test over big time!"

They both laughed again as Naruto went to join in the celebration, Kiba catching him in a headlock and grinding his knuckles against Naruto's head. "You really saved my ass out there, you know that Uzumaki? I was two steps away from walking out with some hurt pride. I've got your back next round, alright? Konoha nin stick together."

Several others agreed with Kiba's statement, and even a few of the Shinobi from other villages joined in on the pact, though Naruto doubted many of them would seriously risk their chances to save him. He could count on his class, though.

After a rather impressive reveal of Ibiki's collection of head wounds, everything quieted down. "So, if that's all then I'd like to dismiss you. Meet again in…"

The interrogator was interrupted by the crashing of a giant scroll through the window followed quickly by a kunoichi in perhaps her late twenties or early thirties. "Alright shit stains, settle down. The lovely and beautiful Mitarashi Anko has arrived." With that, the scroll unfolded to reveal a message lettering out 'Mitarashi Anko, Chunin Exam 2nd Round Proctor.'

"…Early," Ibiki stated, straightening collected test papers against his desk. Anko turned, looking a tad puzzled and obviously asking for him to elaborate. "Mitarashi Anko has arrived early. The next exam isn't until this afternoon. These kids still have three hours to prepare."

Anko scratched the back of her head and gave a nervous grin. "Gee, really? I must have read the schedule wrong, sorry about that," she said, turning to take a good look at the crowd. "Whoa Ibiki, how many brats actually passed this test of yours? Are you losing your touch or something?"

"Nothing of the sort, Anko. I still taught you everything you know about interrogation. I haven't gone soft yet. It's this idiot over here's fault," Ibiki said, jabbing a thumb in Naruto's direction, "he got the idea in his head to give some big inspirational speech right as everyone started leaving. He's a handful."

Anko grinned, licking her lips hungrily as if she was looking at prey. "Really now? That just makes breaking them all the more fun, though," she said as she gave Naruto a creepy smile. She walked over, the hunger in her eyes growing more intense with each step. She and Naruto stood at about equal height, making it even more intense when he glared back at her the same way.

"Aren't you a little old to be taking the Chunin Exam?" she asked, drawing a kunai and pressing it against his cheek.

"I'm thirteen. Aren't you a little young to be running an exam?" Naruto replied, nudging his face ever so slightly against the blade, just enough to draw blood.

"Twenty-two," Anko said, removing the knife and replacing it with her tongue for a quick lick. "You taste good."

"I try my best," with that, the wound closed up and healed.

For the first time since Anko had entered, Naruto turned to face the crowed. Most of them were blushing like mad with their jaws hanging open at the scene. Just what the hell was going on here? Sakura was the first to voice the group's opinions by means of her fist. It impacted directly with Naruto's face, sending him flying across the room and into the wall. "Naruto-baka! Don't flirt with the instructors!"

"_**Especially not when your ass is mine! Shannaro!"**_ Inner Sakura stated, pumping her fist in the air. Sasuki couldn't mask the blush on her face, as she had to admit that her sadistic side had found that little scene pretty hot. She could tell, however, that neither of them had really meant anything by it. Hinata, on the other hand, was flat on her back with a trickle of blood coming out her nose. She'd wondered what would happen if she got the nosebleed, then had pictured Naruto licking, and then kissing, the blood off of her lips. Hinata was a pervert.

Anko laughed at the camaraderie of the whole scene, turning to Ibiki. "You see, they're fun to play with. What you've gotta do is relax. I bet you I cut this number in half by the end of my test."

Ibiki shook his head. "Anko, when a test is specifically designed to cut half the numbers from a group then of course you'd win that bet."

Luckily, no one had overheard him as they were still all in a state of shock from the blonde's antics with the snake mistress. They still seemed really determined to pass. Anko nodded to Ibiki, walking towards the door. Not before slapping Naruto on the back, though. "See you out there, and don't forget to bring me a treat." With a playful wink, she Shunshin'd out of the room, leaving Ibiki to clean up the mess she'd made.

It was on their way down the stairs to the main floor that Team 7 was stopped. A boy in green spandex, a red sash with his hitai-ate attached to it, and orange legwarmers halted them. "What's up? Naruto asked, having gotten along with the boy fairly well during the first test.

"Yes! My name is Rock Lee, but you may call me Lee! I am much honored to make your acquaintance, Naruto-kun. However, I must ask that you stand aside and let me do battle with the one they call Uchiha Sasuki!" He announced, giving a salute. His serious look was almost laughable with his big round eyes and bushy eyebrows, but that didn't dissuade Naruto's response.

"Hell no. We have an exam to prepare for, and she just got out of the hospital. If you think for two seconds I'm going to let you touch her then you're crazy."

Lee looked a little disappointed. Scratch that, he looked downright miserable. "But Naruto-kun, Uchiha Sasuki is known as the genius of your graduating year. If I, a student who has shown no special talent in anything, can defeat her then I may prove once and for all that hard work can triumph over genius! Please, allow me to fight!"

"Naruto, I can handle him, just let me…" Sasuki began. Naruto turned to face her, his intense blue eyes cutting her statement off and making the scar on her neck throb. Her hand twitched to go up and grab the mark, but she stopped herself.

"He's not touching you without going through me first."

This seemed to pick Lee's spirits up. "Yes! A wholehearted brawl between two hardworking ninja to see which one may trump the talented genius! Your idea is perfect, Naruto-kun! It burns with the passionate embers of the springtime of youth! I carry a newfound respect for you as of this moment onwards!"

You could easily point out the pinkette as being unenthused by all this ruckus. Really, it was like the boy was an academy student. Not to mention that his hair and eyebrows were just too…Oh, how could she put this nicely? Original? Yeah, that worked. He was just too original for her tastes. "Geez, Naruto, look what you've done now. If you ask me this is all just one big waste of time. I'm going, so come meet me at…why is he staring at me like that?" Sakura asked, pointing at Lee, whose eyes had gone wide in surprise, as if he'd just seen the pinkette for the first time.

"You are the one they call Haruno Sakura, yes?" he asked, his voice and demeanor simmering down to that of a normal conversation, something they were all surprised at. Sakura wasn't quite sure how to respond to this. Did he want to fight her, too? She was only really talented in academics. Was this Lee boy also some sort of scholar?

"Yes. I'm Sakura. Why do you want to know?" The pinkette replied after a moment of silence. She still wasn't sure what was about to happen, but stayed prepared for anything. Well, anything but what happened next, that is.

"Then…then PLEASE BE MY GIRLFRIEND!" Lee announced, standing stiff and giving a low bow. "I will forever protect you and your eternal beauty with my very life if you accept!"

The entire group deadpanned at this statement. Sakura nearly fell over from the shock of his offer. "Well, actually…you see," she muttered. She was trying to be nice to the boy since he got along with Naruto so well, but she just couldn't seem to put the statement she wanted to make together with the phrasing. Her nervous silence, however, spoke more than she had hoped it would.

"I see," Lee said, nodding as he shut his eyes in thought, "my worst fears have come to pass. You are currently in a relationship. Quickly, point out your boyfriend to me so I may challenge him to a duel for your heart."

If she'd been drinking anything, she probably would have soaked the nearest bystander with her sputtering. "Wha…what? No, no, that's not it at all it's just that…well," she just couldn't think of how to phrase it well enough, and he'd already given her the perfect cover, too. Now she just needed to find someone who could probably beat this boy in a fight. This made covering fairly easy, as the perfect candidate was in the room, and already about to fight the boy.

"Actually, yes. I am dating someone," she said with a sigh. Naruto and Sasuki whipped their heads around to look at her with shocked and puzzled faces. They'd never heard about a boyfriend from her. This was either one monumental lie, or Sakura was getting better at hiding things. "It's Naruto."

Oh, so it was a lie. But wait, what did she mean Naruto? Lee's expression went from determined to wide-eyed awe as he took a step back. "Very well then," he said softly. Sakura nearly wiped her forehead in relief. From his demeanor it looked like Lee was going to give up.

"NARUTO-KUN! YOU AND I SHALL DUEL NOT ONLY FOR THE RIGHT TO BATTLE UCHIHA SASUKI, BUT ALSO FOR THE HEART OF THE LOVELY SAKURA-CHAN! WITH SO MUCH ON THE LINE, I CANNOT LOSE!"

"What!" Naruto yelled, shifting his shocked look from Sakura to Lee.

"No time for questions! Our battle begins now!" Lee exclaimed, jumping back a good few meters and then taking a running start at Naruto before leaping into the air. "Konoha Senpuu!"

The delay between the jump and the dash gave Naruto just enough time to deactivate his inhibitor seals and raise his arm in defense of the kick. The brute impact of it all nearly knocked him off his feet and sent him flying, but he managed to grip the floor with enough chakra to not only take advantage of the opening made by Lee's jump and land a solid cross to the abdomen, but also release an impressive burst of energy to stabilize himself.

Lee went back a few feet from the force of Naruto's blow, and both parties paused to caress tender injuries. "Damn, what is your leg made out of, titanium? That hurt," Naruto said, rubbing an already bruising section of his forearm from where he blocked. Lee had taken to one knee, poking the section of his abdominals with a visible cringe each time.

"I should say the same to you, Naruto-kun. Although I wear weights to increase my leg speed and attack power, you do not have any sort of additive to your knuckles, meaning that you must have done some incredible training on your own as well. I see now that to defend my way of the ninja I have no choice but to use my specialty technique."

Naruto tensed at this. He knew that the next move wouldn't be any kind of joke. He had to watch Lee carefully. Quickly, he activated his Fuuingan via one of his inhibitor seals and took note of the gravity seals around the metal bands on Lee's legs. This fight was gonna be tough.

There was no chakra flow behind the next move, which Naruto found to be shocking. No ninja relied purely on physical strength in their taijutsu. Either Lee was holding back, or he was some sort of special case. The appearance of green spandex below him left Naruto with barely enough time to block the upward kick that sent him sailing into the air. He suddenly felt Lee's presence behind him as well, knowing that what was going to happen next would hurt.

"Dancing Leaf Shadow!" Lee called out as his arm bandages encased Naruto completely. Just before his arms were bound, Naruto flicked his wrist, launching a three-pronged kunai to God knew where. He just needed to escape.

"Hiraishin no Jutsu!"

With a flash of yellow, Naruto was standing beside his team mates yet again, hands in his pockets. "You're gonna have to be a lot faster than that if you want to catch me off guard, Lee," The blonde said with a feral grin as he projected his chakra. "I don't know what stunt you're pulling by not molding chakra into your moves, but it won't work on me twice."

Lee had landed without completing his technique, wrapping his bandages back around his fists. "It seems I have underestimated you yet again, Naruto-kun. Your speed is incredible, so I must once again take it up a notch." With that, Lee removed his weights. Upon hitting the floor, they created two small craters in the ground, and the boy in green spandex vanished from sight.

The following clash of pure speed versus Hiraishin went on for several minutes, neither boy showing any signs of slowing down. Sasuki and Sakura watched from the sidelines, thoroughly impressed by the clash between the two. Sasuki had trouble keeping up with either of their movements, even with her Sharingan active, and Sakura was trying her best just to follow their chakra signatures. "Say, Sakura," Sasuki said calmly, not taking her eyes off the battle, "why'd you tell that boy you were dating Naruto? You could have just said it was some civilian and made up a name so that he would never find him."

Sakura blushed a bit at the question. "Well, the thing is, I figured that since Naruto was going to be fighting with Lee anyways than he might as well take care of my problem, too. I know it sounds selfish, but really it's the best way to keep him off our backs for a while."

Sasuki laughed a bit. "You really think a guy bull-headed enough to train his body to the point where he can keep up with Naruto without using ninjutsu or genjutsu is going to give up on you just because he loses one fight? If you ask me, I think you're enjoying some little fantasy about Naruto fighting for you."

"_**B-bull's-eye!"**_ Inner Sakura exclaimed in shock, fearing the deductive powers of the last Uchiha. Sakura's blush intensified, giving her away almost immediately. Sasuki's smirk faded.

"Do you…like Naruto?" She asked. Sakura's choice to not respond gave Sasuki her answer. "I see…well, don't let me stop you. Go on after him. I'm out of the running, remember? Besides, who'd want some idiot dobe like him? I'll admit he's easy on the eyes, but other than that he's just not what I'm looking for, you know?"

Sakura had stopped focusing on the fight after that, instead choosing to look at Sasuki. The Uchiha girl didn't seem to upset at discovering her crush, and had even encouraged her to go after him. The question was what would happen if Sasuki ever got her memories back? Would she want Naruto again? Where would that put her? Her two team mates were perfect for each other. She'd figured that out a long time ago. Would she really be able to sink so low as to manipulate the situation like this?

"If you don't want him…then why are your eyes still locked on his every move?" Sakura asked accusingly.

Sasuki turned to face Sakura with shock evident in her red orbs. She was sure that Sakura's senses weren't good enough to track the individual movements made by specific people moving at that speed. There was a long silence between the two, each analyzing the eyes of another. Sakura was sure that Sasuki still had some kind of feeling for Naruto, even if she couldn't remember why, whereas Sasuki was adamant that Naruto and she were finished.

"We're not a couple anymore, Sakura. Naruto and I…we're through, aren't we? I mean, I turned him down, and he hasn't come after me or anything. What interest could he possibly have in a girl who can't even remember him?"

An orange figure came sliding to a halt, crouched right in between the two girls and thoroughly interrupting their conversation. "Alright bushy brow, I didn't want to pull a trick like this until the finals, but it looks like you're giving me no choice. Fuuton Kinjutsu," Naruto said calmly, forming the dragon seal as wind chakra began to gather all around him.

"You never cease to amaze me, Naruto-kun! If you are going to reveal another of your techniques to me then it is only fair that I do the same! Kyuumon!" Lee stated, energy starting to swirl around him. Sakura and Sasuki stiffened at the raw power flowing through the air. Naruto was doing some sort of advanced nature and shape manipulation, and the resulting bursts of wind nearly knocked the two of them off their feet. Lee, on the other hand, had a vein bulging out in his forehead and he looked to be flexing pretty hard, but at the same time you could tell that he was starting some sort of power-up to counter Naruto's.

"Now, now, you two. Don't you think that this squabble is best saved for the next round of the exams?"

Naruto and Lee both whipped their heads around to see Kakashi and…an older version of Lee?

"Kakashi here is right, we can't have you two wearing yourselves out before you get a chance to show off the strength of Konoha, now can we?" The other Lee stated, striking a nice-guy pose as he spun in a circle.

The fight, and subsequent differentiation between Might Gai and Rock Lee came quickly, ended quickly after that. Lee went to catch up with his team mates, and Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuki set off back to Naruto's apartment to stock up on ninja supplies. With the nearly obsessive way Naruto maintained his equipment, he'd never thrown a single tool away. This made it so that he had a rather large supply of weaponry. As for consumables such as ration pills, he had a highly regimented budget for it all. However, the rather large surplus of income due to the wave mission and training Konohamaru, the blonde had had a lot of cash burning a hole in his pocket recently. As such, he thought it fit to take his team out for a bit of a shopping spree.

Sakura and Sasuki had been awkwardly silent to one another as of late. Naruto took note of it as neither of them had so much as asked to enter a clothing store. Either they were very serious about the upcoming exam, or they were too deep in thought to acknowledge their environment. Maybe they were hungry. It was about lunch time, after all. Well, that settled it. Ichiraku Ramen it was.

The blonde quickly changed course with the two girls in tow. They didn't even so much as question him. This was getting too weird. "Okay, you two are seriously downing on my mellow right now. What's up?" he asked, stopping in the middle of the road. Both girls looked up at him, then towards one another. If this was another girl telepathy thing, he didn't get it at all.

"Naruto, it's nothing. We're just a little hungry that's all," Sakura started. "Would you mind taking us somewhere to eat? You've been dragging us around forever now."

_He'd_ been dragging _them_ around. What kind of parallel universe had he stumbled into! "No, that's fine. I thought we were on our way to Ichiraku's now anyways. Lighten up. If you go into the exams with that attitude then you're bound to fail. Think positive."

Sakura looked back to Sasuki, and knew that she was thinking the same thing as her. Naruto could tell that they weren't getting along as well as usual. The idea of Sakura going after the blonde irritated Sasuki, and Sakura couldn't say she wasn't a tad irked at Sasuki's denial of her own feelings. At the same time, however, they had no way of deciding who should go first. Or, more importantly, who would Naruto pick if he had to choose? For now, they decided that they had to ignore all the questions. If they wanted to succeed, they'd need to be in top condition. There was no room for squabbles like romance on the battlefield.

"Alright then, let's go eat. If we finish quickly we can probably go look around the shops for cute clothes and maybe even some jewelry for our vacation days before the next part of the test starts, too!" Sakura said, her mood suddenly picking up.

"That sounds good to me so long as Naruto pays for it. I'm broke after paying the bills for my house and hospital treatment," Sasuki said with a light smirk.

"Well of course, it's the only gentlemanly thing to do when you go out on the town with two beautiful girls such as ourselves."

"_Dear Lord, what have I done?"_ Naruto thought to himself as Sakura and Sasuki proceeded to each grab him by the arm and run in the direction of the ramen stand.

* * *

**_On a quick side note, when Lee says "Kyuumon," it actually means Gate of Healing. Don't worry, I won't be pulling any of that crap in here._**

**_Review, please!_**


	15. Orochimaru

_Alright, guys. We're going heavy on the action and plot development and light on the humor this time around. Sorry, but this is the Forest of Death after all. I do hope you enjoy it. Also, it may be subject to massive edits as the last 4,000 words were written in the course of three hours. If you see something wrong, or even if you'd just like more elaboration on a character's emotions/actions at the time, feel free to review/PM me requesting it and I'll try to work it in. This chapter was originally supposed to take us all the way through the second stage of the exams, but then I realized that with the amount of stuff I'd planned to happen in here that that would be ridiculous. Expect the return of the humor in the next chapter, and also the disappearance of the paragraph long introduction!_

**Disclaimer: Shouldn't we all know by now that this most certainly isn't cannon, nor is Naruto owned by me? I thought so.**

* * *

It was with a heavy heart and light wallet that Namikaze Naruto met with the crowd around the Forest of Death. Lee and his team were there, as well as most of the Rookie Nine excluding Shikamaru and Kiba. Truth be told, Team Seven hadn't known about the meeting grounds. Naruto quickly corrected the situation by sending out a figurative search party of Kage Bunshin to scout out all potential training grounds. It had left him with a little less chakra, but he could manage.

Looking up at the entrances, each sanctioned off by a closed barbed wire gate surrounded by chain-link fences all over the perimeter, Naruto took note of the Raiton seal tags in place that would give a nasty shock to anyone who so much as tried to pass through without admittance. From there, he quickly checked his team's names off the list and picked up the dark grey scroll that they were given with the Kanji "Do" on it.

"Earth? What's this supposed to mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in slight confusion. The man at the table who had given him the scroll shook his head.

"You're just gonna have to wait. Once all these waivers are in then Anko'll start the explanations," the man replied. Naruto glanced at the three waivers he'd been handed to give back to his team to fill out. They looked a lot like that contract he'd signed when he went on the mission to Wave. He was already getting bad vibes about this.

"During the second stage examination of the fifth annual Konoha Chunin Exams, one of those annoying blank spaces where you're supposed to put your name hereby referred to as Shinobi – in all caps, of course – agrees that if Shinobi in all caps becomes deceased over the course of the exam that Shinobi in all caps…wait…deceased!" He said in a panicked tone.

The Kyuubi let out a cruel laugh from within Naruto's mind as he too could read the waiver. Even if he couldn't, Naruto had been reading it aloud. _**'You see, kit. This is where you get to hold up your end of the deal. Make sure to have lots of fun for me, or my lips might get a little tighter in the future,'**_ he said.

Naruto sighed. He really didn't want to die in this stage of the exam. How terrible would it be if he did and they never found his body? The very thought of some Chunin stumbling across his rotted corpse while inspecting the forest for the next exams just disturbed him on a level he wasn't aware he could be disturbed on. Of course he was likely to be a skeleton by then, or perhaps a ghost haunting the forest hunting for innocent little Genin.

Naruto shuddered at the thought. He _hated_ ghosts. They just creeped him out to no end what with their floating, and their moaning, and _especially_ that thing they do where you can't touch them, but they can throw things at you with their minds.

He decided not to get too far along that train of thought, as he'd need to stay focused for the exams and couldn't afford to be peeking over his shoulder every few seconds in case some malevolent spirit was haunting the forest. He'd have to figure out how to make an exorcism ninjutsu later and then mass-cast it across the whole forest with Kage Bunshin later.

Anko was quick to arrive after he finished that thought, and proceeded to waste no time in informing everyone on the training grounds that they would depart in exactly five minutes for the test, and if they wanted to know what the bleep they were going to have to do then they'd have to listen up.

Naruto glanced around as Anko went through all the trivial things like "rules" and "regulations." He didn't have any interest in being told about crap that Sakura would most likely tell him again in about three minutes. Also, he wanted to make sure everyone from Konoha was here. Upon confirming the presence of the Nara and the Inuzuka, he began his search around the rest of the remaining Genin. With only about half of the candidates from the first round remaining it was much easier to identify who was who. There were a couple of ninja from Oto left, some Mist Nin Naruto got the feeling he'd either meet again or had several brothers that looked exactly like them, the creepy Kusa nin with the tongue that could even make Sakura blush and his…her?...team, And then everyone from Konoha.

"Alright, if you all understand the rules and are in your designated areas then we're going to begin," Anko shouted over the loudspeaker. Naruto's head whipped back and forth quickly. He must have zoned out, seeing as he suddenly found himself in front of a large fence door with his team.

"One piece of advice though; just don't die!" With that a gunshot sounded and the gates flung open, leaving the Genin no time to wonder just how guns existed in the ninja world but weren't of use in favor of shuriken and other projectile weapons as everyone rushed into the forest.

"Okay, I just had the longest zone-out of my entire life. Anyone wanna tell me exactly what it is we're doing?" Naruto asked to no one in particular, but knowing Sakura would be the one to answer.

"We have black scroll, we run through this forest and look for people to beat up until we find white scroll, then we run to big tower in middle of forest," the pinkette summarized with surprising brevity.

"Sweet," Naruto replied with a grin, pumping some more chakra into his feet as he rocketed ahead of the two girls. "Imma go find trouble, be back soon," he called, waving.

"Dammit Naruto, stay in formation or we're all screwed!" Sasuki shouted, releasing her limiters as she chased after the blonde with Sakura in tow, having done the same.

The three ran through the forest at what they would consider a leisurely pace, but was probably just fast enough to be considered a violent sprint to the rest of the Konoha Genin in the forest. "So the way I see it is the more scrolls we collect the fewer people get out of the forest, correct?" Naruto asked. Sakura nodded in confirmation.

"So are there any objections to me spamming the Kage Bunshin and using them to Hiraishin around and take down the weaker teams?" He asked, only to be nearly knocked out of the air by a fist to the back of the head from Sakura.

"Yes, yes there are objections. Sasuki already warned you about staying in formation. We have no idea how strong everyone is right now, and as such we need to be extra careful about who we start a fight with. For all we know Chouji could take some sort of steroid that turns all his fat into pure chakra and then we're all screwed."

Naruto's guffaw would have concerned her about his adherence to the rules she'd put down on his strategy if he had moved to make a hand seal afterwards, but since he hadn't everything looked like it would be alright. All they had to do was keep going until they ran into someone.

"Alright, hold up," Naruto said, stopping on the next tree branch. Sakura and Sasuki ceased their pursuit of the blonde, watching him hop down from the canopy and behind a large bush. "Gotta take a piss."

"Ew, Naruto! Don't announce it like that!" Sakura shouted again.

"Keep your voice down. The last thing I wanna do is get jumped with my pants down," Naruto replied.

"Then at least go a bit further out in the forest!"

"What happened to breaking formation?" the blonde asked with a smirk.

"Do I have to kick your smart ass from here to the other side of Konoha?" Sakura replied venomously.

"Fine, fine. Geez Sakura, you're not being fun today at all," he said as he dashed off deeper into the foliage.

A few seconds ticked by before Sakura realized that she hadn't so much as said a word to Sasuki in the past twenty minutes. She'd have to correct that. "Sasuki, do you think we should come up with a password or something? I mean, if one of us gets kidnapped and replaced with a Henge'd enemy then it would be bad if they caught us off-guard."

Sasuki looked up from the nearby river where she was focusing on trying to catch the jumping fish with a kunai. "Yeah, sounds like a good idea, but I think that we'd be better off sticking to questions that only the real person could answer. Personal stuff, you know?"

Sakura nodded, agreeing. Then the thought hit her. "What about the big chunk of your memories that are still missing? What are you going to do if you get separated from the group and we're not sure if it's you when you come back?"

"Naruto told me about everything, remember? And if that doesn't work, I'll just have to start attacking you two and hope you realize it's me by the way I fight."

The girls shared a laugh at that, going on to address such important topics as jutsu they were trying to develop on their own. To Sasuki's surprise, Sakura had been studying a bit of medical ninjutsu rather than genjutsu, as she thought that keeping the heavy hitters alive would be more effective than the risks of trying to ensnare an enemy's mind. It certainly made sense. Sasuki brought up the few lightning jutsu that she was trying to develop, including a copy of Kakashi's specialty technique without downright copying it with the Sharingan.

Their conversation was interrupted when a Kiri Genin went flying through the forest, landing hard against the trunk of a tree with a groan. "You do _not_ attack a guy taking a piss! How would you feel if I did that to you, huh?" Naruto shouted emerging from the foliage assumedly done with his bathroom break as he proceeded to beat the living hell out of the poor defenseless boy.

"Didn't even have a white scroll on him. Worthless in more ways than just one," Naruto grumbled under his breath, shoving his hands in his pockets. The two girls looked at him suspiciously when he glanced in their direction. "What?"

"How do we know you're really Naruto and that wasn't just a ploy to get us to trust you?" Sakura replied with a question of her own. Naruto deadpanned at this, his shoulders drooping.

"Do…do you really think that those puny Kiri Ninja could take me in a fight? Sakura-chan, you're so mean," he whispered.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to break formation…or were you?" Sasuki asked. "Speaking of which, what's your last name, anyways? No, no, that one's too obvious. Why don't you just start spilling all your little secrets that you think we'd know but no one else would before we start attacking you?"

Naruto stood in thought for a second, stroking a beard that wasn't there. "You know what, screw the trivia, let's just fight!" Naruto shouted as he leapt at the two with a grin on his face. Team Seven continued to travel through the forest, running through the several techniques that they'd each respectively learned from their experience whether it be Naruto's insane healing ability to take the abuse Sakura dished out while holding off Sasuki's relentless barrage of attacks with his Fuingan. No one was really aiming to do damage that would last, and anyone who didn't know how the team operated would have cried foul at this point, but this only served to prove that Naruto was Naruto.

"Alright, now that we're warmed up for whatever's coming our way we can start looking for the white scrolls, yes?" Naruto asked.

"White scrolls you say? You mean like this one?" a familiar voice asked. Team Seven turned to face a lone ninja from Kusa. Naruto's hairs stood on end as the Kyuubi growled inside his mind.

"_**Kit, take this one seriously. He's no ordinary ninja."**_

Naruto nodded unconsciously, answering both the Kyuubi's advice and the Kusa Nin's question. "Excellent, then why don't we strike a deal? If the Uchiha can beat me in a one on one fight, then I'll be happy to cough it up. And when I say cough it up, I am quite serious." With that, the Kusa Nin swallowed the scroll whole, a grin forming on his face. "So what do you say, Sasuki-chan?"

The sickly sweet tone this new figure spoke in mixed with the wave of killer intent that flooded the area made each member of the team almost sick to their stomachs. Naruto's first reaction was to send his Fuingan into full activation and release his limiters, letting his immense chakra fully release and stabilize the air around them. "Gonna have to do better than that you freak."

"Oh, look at that. The little Genin thinks he can talk smack to me. I wasn't aware that people as low on the food chain as you were allowed to look down on others," the Kusa Nin commented casually. Naruto was upon him in an instant, decking him solidly in the face with a mighty right hook. The Kusa Nin went flying into a nearby tree only explode into a burst of mud.

"Come now, Naruto-kun. Learn to take a joke. I've heard of you and your jutsu. Certainly you can do better than that. I dare say you're not taking me seriously. That's certainly a shame, I so wanted to see the technique that nearly fell Zabuza of the Mist. You see, I'm a collector of sorts. Powerful Jutsu interest me."

"Who the hell are you!" Naruto almost screamed in rage.

"You may call me Orochimaru. Now, if you'd kindly leave me to the young Uchiha so I can deliver a message from her brother you would have my deepest gratitude."

Sasuki's mind went blank. Orochimaru. Where had she heard that name before? Was he a Sannin? Naruto had mentioned them once.

"_Wasn't that before I lost my memories in Wave, though? Why am I remembering now?"_

"**Traitor!"** Naruto screamed, forming a massive amount of Kage Bunshin behind him. They all charged, leaving Naruto behind glaring at the man. "I developed techniques like this just for people like you! I can't forgive anyone who would stab their own comrades in the back! Fuujin Karada no Jutsu!"

Naruto had gone on a rampage when Mizuki had left the village, and he hadn't even really planned anything that dangerous. Orochimaru had put the entire leaf village in danger and as far as Naruto was concerned was still a serious threat to all of Konoha, if what he'd read in his book was accurate. He performed twisted experiments on living subjects, and on top of that had just insulted and looked down on the boy. All of this combined with the fact that Orochimaru was so determined to fight with Sasuki lead Naruto to his rampage. Why couldn't people just leave her alone?

When Naruto used the Fuujin Karada this time it was much different than when he fought Lee. With Lee Naruto had been loose and light on his feet, almost like he was playing ninja like a civilian child. This time he was fully serious and had the intent to kill. The wind picked up violently all around the area, coating Naruto with a thin layer of razor sharp air currents that took the shape of claws on his hands and feet and fangs and horns around his head.

Orochimaru's eyes went wide at Naruto's completed technique. He couldn't stop it as he was still busy fighting off the clones, and he regretted not ending things faster. If that boy had come up with a way to make his entire body a blade of Fuuton chakra, then it wouldn't matter how inaccurate he was when he charged. The blades could extend and contract at will. This boy had to be dealt with quickly.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Orochimaru shouted, knowing that if he could land one hit with a fire technique that he could cancel out the wind armor and stun the blonde just long enough to apply a seal that would interfere with his chakra flow. Perhaps the Five Prong Seal would be useful in this scenario.

Naruto leapt over the fireball, throwing a single kunai at Orochimaru. The Hebi Sannin leaned to the left just in time to notice the three prongs that made up the silhouette of the kunai as it embedded itself into the tree behind him.

"_I'd heard rumors, but can this boy really pull of that damned technique?"_

"Hiraishin no Jutsu!"

"_Shit!"_ Orochimaru's mind screamed as he quickly spit Kusanagi out. He couldn't pull that jumping out of his own body trick with this new host just yet, so his only chance of surviving would be to block.

The result of Naruto's Fuujin Karada claws coming into contact with the blade of the Kusanagi was to put a sizeable knick in the sword before getting cut in half. The blonde's eyes widened, surprised the sword was of good enough quality to cut his wind blades like that.

The far more experienced of the two ninja locked in this fight took advantage of Naruto's momentary shock and began a ruthless barrage of combinations aimed for vital areas with the blade. The blade itself was so sharp that Naruto could feel the delay between the injury and the Kyuubi's chakra beginning to heal them. The pain was too great to focus on countering anymore, and soon the heavily injured blonde slunk to the ground, not sure which wound to grasp in pain.

Orochimaru laughed ruthlessly as he picked the blonde up by the collar. "Come with some more bit next time you intend to challenge me, boy. I can't believe I even considered you as a candidate for my mark if the Uchiha didn't cooperate," he spoke as he slammed the blonde hard in the stomach with a chakra injected fist. Naruto went flying, crashing through multiple tree branches before falling through the air and hitting one about fifty feet down. Hard.

"Naruto!" Sasuki cried. "Sakura, go help him! I'll hold this guy off!"

Sakura gave a curt nod and ran to the blonde's side, starting her preliminary exam for injuries. Sasuki eyed Orochimaru cautiously. He probably wouldn't be using that sword again after the damage Naruto did to it with his jutsu, but he probably still had plenty of other tricks.

"Are you going to keep me waiting, Sasuki-chan? Show me what that Sharingan of yours can really do," the traitor taunted.

Sasuki stood frozen in fear at the sudden spike in killing intent. This was so much worse than anything Zabuza had emitted. It was like she could see herself dying by the Sannin's hands. What was worse was the crushing feeling of defeat she felt after seeing Naruto beaten so easily like that. Did she even stand a chance?

"Hm. And here I was hoping for you to be a bit fierier like your blonde friend. It seems I was wasting my time with you after all. I just keep getting disappointed left and right around here it seems."

The two incoming kunai shocked Sasuki into taking drastic measures. She couldn't get hit like she'd been again or this time she might not wake up. Whipping out a kunai she put a gash on her left leg. The stinging sensation was just enough to jump out of the way and create a more comfortable distance between her and her opponent. From there, she began thinking of just how she could work out an attack from this range. There were always her new Katon Jutsu, but she'd been hoping to save those for later.

"_Life or death, idiot! Does what you want besides to stay alive really matter right now!"_

"Interesting. So my prey isn't totally helpless after all. That's good. The last thing I'd want you to do is try to talk your way out of fighting me by offering up that scroll. I'm sure you've figured out that this is about so much more than a simple exam."

She shook her head, whipping out her arsenal of shuriken just as a giant snake that was letting off the same aura as Orochimaru came charging at her. It was that insane feeling of being on death's door that was fueling all of her actions now.

"**Stay away!"** she screamed, hurling all the shuriken she could, each slicing deep into the snake and effectively causing it to combust into smoke. From the plumes Orochimaru emerged, kicking Sasuki out of the air and into the thick branch of a tree.

"There's nowhere to run now, Sasuki-chan. You look just like a little bug, curling up in the dirt to try and save your own life. It's so pathetic that it's almost cute." Orochimaru drew the damaged Kusanagi from deep within his throat after that, walking in slowly for the kill. "Almost."

Sasuki backed up as far as she could into the tree. She had nowhere to turn and her certain death was flooding the air around her, nearly choking her with the sheer weight of the killer intent of one man. She only had one chance. Orochimaru was close enough now that she could probably get in one good kick.

She did just that. She thrust her leg up into the air as high and fast as it would go, only to have it be caught by the ankle and swung into another tree where she was repeatedly beaten by a flurry of punches and kicks. "Are you even going to bother fighting back? With so much fear in your blood it will be nearly impossible for you to accomplish anything. What happened to that trick you pulled where pain let you move? Is it not working again?"

She didn't want to die. Not again. She'd hated it the first time. The thought of never seeing Naruto again tore her apart. He'd never spar with her, never take her out to ramen, never…never kiss her. Why was it that she was just now remembering? Did the Shinigami like to play games like this? If so, she'd rebel with every ounce of her being. If she could just scream loud enough then Naruto was bound to hear her, right?

"Na…to-ku…"

"Excuse me, you'll have to speak up. I think the injuries are inhibiting your speech."

"Ta…te…Naru…ku…"

"One more time, real loud for the folks at home. Are you begging for mercy? That's unbecoming of an Uchiha, you know. You're supposed to meet death without remorse."

"Tasukete, Naruto-kun!"

The whole forest seemed to go completely silent as that phrase echoed out of earshot. Orochimaru would have smiled at the girl relying on such a useless boy for help. He may have known flashy jutsu, but he hardly had the physique to back them up. "Silly little girl. Crying for your friends to help you. They won't come. They're all just too afraid of the big bad snake. They're rather smart, if you ask me."

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE AGAIN!"

Orochimaru's hypothesis of Naruto's fear proved false when a chakra with malevolence unlike Orochimaru had ever felt erupted throughout the forest, shaking the very trees in the area under its weight.

Orochimaru's head whipped around to search for the source of the energy, only to see the blonde he'd thought he'd disposed of standing there, totally fine with no injuries to speak of. The only difference was the striking color change in his eyes and the whirling red spheres of energy over his front two knuckles on each fist. "_**Kyuubi no Rasenken."**_

Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock as he leapt off the branch. It wasn't fast enough to get away though, as Naruto had seemingly used another Hiraishin to appear in front of the Sannin in midair and deliver a solid punch to the gut of the snake, who flew down to earth spinning.

With another insane burst of speed Naruto was behind Orochimaru as he fell. "_**Rule One of fighting a Jinchuuriki. Don't piss us off if you can't handle the backlash.**_"

Another fist launched the screaming Sannin into the air. _"Where did he get this kind of power? Jinchuuriki? Could he possibly? No, that's impossible!"_ he thought, turning in midair and smearing some blood on the seal mark around his wrist. It was time to bring out the big guns.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The mother of all snakes so far poofed into existence as Orochimaru's mount with that. The reptile wasted no time in swinging its massive tail directly into the boy in an attempt to crush him. This plan quickly backfired as Naruto released a burst of chakra from his feet large enough to counteract the force of the tail's swing after hitting the tree. _**"Rule Two: Don't assume any one jutsu in your arsenal will be enough to take us out once we get pissed. We heal fast."**_

Naruto was on the head of the snake after that, slamming both fists into the skull and causing the giant reptile to vanish in a cloud of smoke. The rasengan faded after that, but the chakra of the Kyuubi didn't. Naruto charged the snake, repeated fists to the gut until the figure burst into another mud clone signifying the fight.

Sasuki could barely keep up with the fight in her semiconscious state. She'd had no idea why she'd called out for naruto like that, but it had obviously worked. She curled up in a ball with her forehead pressing against her knees. All this mental trauma must have been affecting her emotional state. First the Tsukiyomi from Itachi, then the brain damage that lead to memory loss, and now this massive killer intent from Orochimaru. She almost felt bad that she hadn't been able to do anything. Naruto had this handled now though, right?

Her answer came when the Snake finally stopped moving only to reveal he had Naruto's head underneath his boot. "I don't know how you've grown so strong without resorting to the use of at least a tail of your Bijuu's chakra, but I'm stopping you now! I have a few old friends who I can really tick off by killing you right now anyways, and a pest like you will only grow into a full grown threat if I don't nip you in the bud anyways."

It was just like Wave all over again. Naruto was on death's door because he was helping her. She didn't bother wondering why she could remember things she shouldn't be able to this time around. She just moved. She couldn't let Naruto die.

The rest of the fight after that was a blur that not even her Sharingan's eidetic memory would allow her to recall. There was something about Naruto taking a palm to the stomach and losing touch with the Kyuubi, and then the two of them beating the ever-loving crap out of Orochimaru until he restrained Naruto and clamped his jaws down onto her neck. Now she was woozy, and basically collapsed. Naruto followed suit.

Sakura had seen the entire thing occur, and even she couldn't believe it. Naruto had become so ruthless, so angry, so animalistic when Sasuki screamed for him like she had. Did he still have feelings for Sasuki? If so he must have been amazing at hiding them. Then again, this was Naruto she was talking about. He could hide just about anything so long as it had to do with him.

She had to admit that what was probably one of her first glances at the Kyuubi's chakra in action had terrified her almost as much as Orochimaru's killer intent. At the same time though, she knew that Naruto would never hurt her if he could help it. He had obviously been more or less coherent while in that state. What Orochimaru had done to him though had worried her.

She quickly took her newfound knowledge as a medic Nin and checked on the two members of her team. Naruto's physical injuries had all but healed, so there really wasn't much in the way of treatment she could provide him with. Sasuki on the other hand was riddled with injuries on every part of her entire body. Sakura tried her best to heal the wounds, making sure to apply a general anti-venom before she began the healing process as she had no idea what the snake was capable of in his attacks.

It was his last words that had really scared her, though. "You'll come to me for power soon enough, little girl. When that time comes, I'll be sure to welcome you with open arms. After all, you're my only option for obtaining the Sharingan."

After that he'd bit Sasuki. Of course, he'd recoiled in pain less than a second afterwards and puked the Earth Scroll they needed up before disappearing with a look of hatred on his…her?...face, but now there were three black tomoe on her neck, and her entire body was running a fever. Sakura wasn't sure just what to do about the mark, so she dragged to two to a nearby river and placed cool rags on their foreheads like her mother had always done for her when she was sick.

She really did miss those days at home. Sure, she'd never trade her Shinobi career for the life of a boring civilian. There were far too many adventures to be had and hot boys to meet for that to be liable. Plus, the hottest boy she'd ever met was on her team. When he'd used the Kyuubi's chakra his muscles had rippled and his voice had dropped. He was the closest thing to a twelve year old Adonis she could imaging. Sure, the accelerated growth he'd received from the Kyuubi probably played a hand, but she really didn't care.

"I hope you two wake up soon…I'm a sitting duck out here."

* * *

_For all of you who aren't hip to the Japanese Lingo, "Tasukete" translates roughly into "Save me."  
Kyuubi no Rasenken: Spiralling fist of (The) Kyuubi. It's basically the Rasengan, but you get to punch someone in the face with it instead of thrusting your palm into their gut. Much more fun and violent, ne?_

_Fuujin Karada no Jutsu: Literally translates into 'Body of The Wind God.' Yeah, I'm cool like that. Think the Raikage's Thunder Armor, but with wind. Instead of speed, you get cutting power. It's by no means meant to be spammed, I just need to come up with a cool side-effect for it. :P_

_Read and REVIEW PLEASE! IT MAKES ME HAPPY!_

_~Hikaru_


	16. Chakra Tags

**_Hey all, I'm back and faster than usual. Hope you all enjoy it as a lot's going on again! Feel free to point out any errors, and I'll do my best to fix them._**

* * *

Sakura had just been coming back from a run to get some water at a nearby stream when the group of Sound Genin had shown up. She'd initially sensed the chakra of two of them, but then heard the footsteps of a third member to the group. She realized she was terribly outnumbered, but with both Naruto and Sasuki unconscious there wasn't much she could do in the category of conflict avoidance.

She took action the second she saw movement in the bushes. Eight kunai, one in between each pair of fingers and each with an augmented explosive seal that she'd…acquired…during her initial search of Naruto while treating him before the Kyuubi's chakra had kicked in and taken care of the rest. They didn't look much different than normal explosive tags, so hopefully they wouldn't work too much differently either.

Of course, she was once again reminded of just how awesome it was to have a burgeoning seal master on her team when instead of the traditional explosions, bursts of pure wind chakra literally blew the approaching team out of the trees and brought them crashing down into the clearing Sakura had set her two team mates down in. "Note to self: have Naruto make more of these."

_"**Yeah, offer him a date to Ichiraku in return! Cha!**"_

Sakura would have blushed and argued with that statement if there hadn't been a fight to attend to. As it stood, there were three Oto Ninja picking themselves up off the ground with rather mean expressions on their faces. "Well, our mission outline during this stage of the exams was to just focus on the Uchiha, but I think Orochimaru-sama can deal with another casualty," the one with the bandages covering most of his face save for his right eye.

_"Wait a second…"_ Sakura thought. "Why would Orochimaru want Sasuki dead? He just popped up and started ranting about how he could give her all the power in the world. You sure he's not just playing you? You do seem rather gullible what with that whole mummy look, which I'm assuming you're doing since someone told you it would look cool. I mean, the only guy I know that's capable of pulling that look off is my Sensei, and he's a tad on the weird side as it is."

"…Kick her ass, Zaku."

"With pleasure!" the boy with black spiky hair that also reminded her of Kakashi save for the direction in which the hair was curved replied as he pressed his hands together. Sakura took quick note of the small metal contraptions in his palms. However, when they released a pressurized air blast that forced her to go through a quick Kawarimi with a nearby log she began to wonder how small those devices really were.

"Are those things fused directly into your circulatory system!" Sakura asked in shock, revealing he hiding place in the tree she'd knocked the group out of earlier. "Who did that to you? It's definitely not self-inflicted, and can't possibly be natural! How the hell could you let anyone do that to you!"

"Ah, so you've noticed my modifications? You have good eyes. Yes, Orochimaru-sama likes to ensure that we each have our own…special…abilities to utilize in combat. Dosu here is rather sensitive about the more aesthetic results of his own, so he doesn't much like being teased about it."

Sakura swallowed hard. Her best shot for getting in close to any of them, which she still wasn't sure was a good idea, would be her very small repertoire of Doton Jutsu as the nearest source of water was the stream she'd just come from, and that was about a mile back. She still had a few of Naruto's chakra tags, but wasn't quite sure she knew enough about them to put them to use. From what she'd seen, they differed slightly from jutsu tags, which always had specific techniques sealed in them. These just pumped out raw Fuuton chakra.

But maybe she could make that work for her…well, if she threw caution to the wind and did something drastic. _"It works for Naruto, so it'll work for me!"_ Sakura thought, forming the ram seal and deactivating her chakra and gravity seals. _"Better use a little juice up first, just to make sure it's potent."_

Zaku, Dosu, and Kin all staggered back a bit when Sakura let loose the remaining ninety percent of her chakra. Here she'd been preaching the horrors of mechanical augmentation to the body in order to become stronger when she was using seals to hold back most of her strength to the point she should very well have been nearly dead. They didn't have time to point out the hypocrisy in her statement as the pinkette instantly released a barrage of fast, powerful, and albeit a little sloppy punches, kicks, knees, elbows and the like. Zaku, the target of the assault, did his best to keep up with the girl. She was pretty good as it stood, after all.

_"Still not good enough!"_ he thought, seeing his opening and palming the girl in the face. Before Sakura even finished the reaction of recoiling and cupping her nose, Zaku cried out "**Zankuuha**!"

The blast of pressurized air made the technique live up to its name. It didn't actually take her head off, but Sakura sure felt like it had when she went flying back, her skull cracking against the thick wood of a tree trunk. Struggling to stand with her head woozy, Sakura had just the technique in mind to take care of this new arrival, and the perfect plan to set it up. _"Time to spam some low-cost jutsu!"_ she grinned.

She took off charging and occupied herself with dodging smaller versions of Zaku's air blasts as she zig-zagged left to right. Finally she got in close and waited. When Zaku went in for a point-blank attack like he had before, she quickly Kawarimi'd with another log and back into the treetops. From there, her plan of being the most annoying thing to grace the presence of this team went into play. It seemed that every time she revealed herself and they attacked, she'd simply become a log.

Their frustration was evident when this happened around the fiftieth time. Sakura was feeling a little winded, but decided that she could kick it up a notch and change her strategy just a bit. This time when she emerged from the trees she was in the company of a battalion of Bunshin. This threw the Oto Genin off a bit as they adjusted to finding the real her, and even when they did she still replaced herself.

"I've had enough of this!" Zaku screamed at this, crossing his arms in preparation for what Sakura took as a cue to begin her attack. Again she burst forth from the tree line with Bunshin galore, but the key difference this time was that she wasn't really among the clones. "**Zankuukyokuha**!"

The Bunshin all faded, leaving Zaku even more furious than he had been; furious enough that he didn't notice the hand emerging from the ground and gripping his ankle until it was too late. "Zaku!" Kin cried as the boy was pulled snugly beneath the ground by Sakura's **Shinju Zanshu. **"Dig yourself out of that while I deal with your friends," Sakura stated bluntly as she charged Dosu, engaging with the boy while dodging Senbon from Kin's location.

Another massive burst of cutting wind blew Zaku to the surface, the boy only receiving minor cuts as the blasts were directed outwards. He blasted at Sakura with new vigor, prompting the pinkette to rush in and slam her hands against his chest, continuing to push until they hit a tree. "My turn!" Sakura screamed.

It was at that specific point in time that Zaku took note of the seal tags covering Sakura's arms. The tags had blasted them with pure wind chakra before, but he didn't think this girl would use herself as the medium to launch the explosion. So what was her plan?

Sakura smirked, letting all the wind chakra from the tags flood into the chakra points in her arms, then pushing it to her hands before the foreign chakra did too much damage. If these seals had just contained normal chakra then the transfer wouldn't have been a problem, but since the chakra in these seals were already "pre-programmed," so to speak, to attack. Sakura was pretty sure they'd wreck her arms. Still, it was worth it when she saw the look on Zaku's face when she screamed out "**Zankuuha, bitch!"**

Zaku threw his head back and screamed in pain at the force of the attack. The force of the blow cracked the tree, toppling it with Zaku following soon after. "That should knock him out for a few minutes. Now for you two," Sakura said. As she began to turn though, a stinging pain shot threw her arms, followed by a feeling of numbness to which she was not accustomed. She decided to not let the sudden weakness show, opting to charge Dosu and begin a combination of intricate kicks. Why she had ignored Kin during the entire fight she couldn't really say, but she had to admit that she seemed the least threatening of the group. _"Meh, let's let Shikamaru fight the girls. He hated sparring Ino, Hinata and I in The Academy. Now won't be much different."_

* * *

"Ino, I don't see why we have to wait and watch Sakura fight. I don't mind the break, but being this close to the fight is just too…"

"Shut it, Shikamaru. We're waiting because once this fight is over the winner is going to have at least two scrolls and be weak. We'll strike then, and get what we need," Ino cut the lazy genius off with a whispering hiss. Honestly, why did she have to lead this team? Shikamaru called everything troublesome, but in reality he was the one causing her the most trouble.

"And if all they have is what we don't need?" Shikamaru countered.

"You're the genius; you tell me the chances of that."

"One in four."

"Good, so it's better than the daily lottery at the convenience store, and I've won that plenty of times," Ino said with a smirk.

**"Zankuha, bitch!"**

The sudden blast of air pressure that sent all three members of Team Ten flying back suddenly discouraged Ino's hope that she'd be able to get a scroll out of Sakura. "Okay, so maybe my idea isn't the best…but we should still stick around. If Sakura winds up needing help we might be able to group together. With three scrolls, all we'll really need to do is find one more, right?"

Shikamaru just sighed, lying back and trying to find an opening in the canopy so he could look for clouds.

* * *

Sakura wasn't in much of a good way right now. Dosu had taken quick note of her nearly useless arms and used them to his advantage. He instantly went for her hair, and had no trouble grabbing at the long strands. Pulling her to the ground and repeatedly punching her in the face didn't seem to require much effort either. With twitching hands Sakura reached for a kunai, a shuriken, anything with a shard edge to cut herself free. That was, until one last good his rocked her consciousness.

A green blur arrived on the field of battle, crashing into Dosu and sending the Oto Nin flying back. The entire right side of Sakura's face felt swollen and numb, and she knew she must have looked terrible. "Are you well enough to stand, Sakura-san?"

Sakura looked up, her eyes registering the very blurry outline of Lee. Between the sharp pain in her arms and the state of her face, she didn't even have to think about shaking her head no. Lee nodded. "Very well then," he said as he proceeded to lift her and carry her over to the tree Naruto and Sasuki were lying under and sitting her up against it gently. Maybe it was the physical exhaustion talking, but Sakura mumbled out a thank you as Lee was turning to go back.

"No need for thanks, Sakura-san. As a fellow Shinobi of Konoha it is my sworn duty to protect you. I shall return shortly, but for now I wish only that you rest."

Sakura nodded, closing her eyes and focusing what little chakra she had left into her arms to begin self-healing. Little by little feeling that wasn't harsh stings began to flood back into her extremities, and she welcomed it with a relaxed sigh. She'd taken it a little too far, it seemed. She almost laughed at herself. She had been one of the people to yell at Naruto for taking things too far. She was really a hypocrite, wasn't she?

For now, she'd just sit back and watch Lee do his thing. From what she could tell, this boy was almost as strong as Naruto. He'd be able to save them if anyone could.

The spandex-clad taijutsu specialist's eyes narrowed in determination as he faced Dosu and Kin. "You have made a grave error in attacking Sakura-san. If she is willing to give her all in a fight against you, than I will not insult her by holding back."

Lee charged, his blinding speed playing a key factor in getting the first punch in on Dosu. However, soon after things seemed to be going a little south as Dosu seemed to be causing massive damage every time he flicked the metal gauntlet of his. Lee wasn't looking too hot, to say the least.

"It is time…that I ended this," Lee said shakily. He moved fast, kicking Zaku up into the air and jumping after him. "Kaimon, Omoto Renge!" Bandages wrapped firmly around Dosu, temporarily exposing the rather gnarly state of Lee's knuckles from the amount he'd used. This wasn't a subject Dosu touched on, whether it be because of his own deformities or his own disorientation due to the rapid rotation he was currently experiencing.

Zaku, now slightly more conscious from his escapades with the pinkette, sent a disruption along the ground, attempting to soften the impact as best he could. "You owe me one," Zaku mumbled, rolling over onto his back and taking a deep breath. He was out of chakra, and because of that he felt like his best option was to take a nap until the fight was over. He'd done his part.

Kin stepped over to Zaku, shaking her head in frustration. Had he totally forgotten about the soldier pills that Orochimaru had given them? Honestly, it was like the boy was just looking for a way to not do anything. She took one of the small purple balls out of her equipment pouch and slipped it in between Zaku's lips. The boy chewed and swallowed, but what happened next freaked Kin out on a level she compared to first meeting Orochimaru.

The boy's entire body began to convulse, dark purple chakra wafting off of his body. "Uraaaaaaa!" he cried. Kin tried to steady him, but Zaku 's convulsions were so strong they knocked her away. Dosu smirked at this, pulling himself up out of the ditch Lee had made for him.

"Hm…good idea, Zaku. Orochimaru-sama's special combat medicine would be perfect for this situation," Dosu said as he popped one of the pills into his own mouth. He soon began to exhibit the same symptoms as Zaku, sending Kin and Lee staggering back in fear. The chakra coming off the two was so malicious that they were surprised they hadn't lost their sanity from it yet. Oh wait. They had.

Zaku and Dosu both charged Lee, the boy firing up the second gate out of pure reflex as he fled. "Raaaa!" Dosu cried, delivering a solid punch to Lee's face, which was blocked. The opening was abused by Zaku, who launched a violet-tinted Zankuuha at Lee's torso and sent the boy flying back, coughing up blood.

The feral cries of the two as well as their continuous assault on Lee left the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha little more than a writhing puddle on the ground. Sakura's fear steadily growing, she mentally cried out for Naruto, Sasuki, anybody to intervene.

The sudden explosion of demonic chakra ironically sent a shockwave of relief through the pinkette. _"Naruto!"_

The raven blur encompassed in red that followed Sakura's mental cry threw her. Naruto was typically orange, wasn't he?

Sasuki's fist collided with Dosu's face, tearing his bandages and revealing scarred tissue riddled with small metallic bits. Sakura cringed, but still couldn't shake the contrast in Sasuki's aura.

**_"Whoruno…"_** the girl asked. The pinkette felt relief that Sasuki was still coherent enough to speak, though her voice contained same feral undertone in her voice as a Kyuubi-influenced Naruto. **_"These guys do this to you?_**"

Sakura nodded weakly, still wondering just what it was that was happening. Sasuki turned and grinned at Dosu and Zaku, their insane state seeming to make them immune to the immense amount of killing intent present in the air.

"**_Wanna dance, boys?_**" she asked, turning to face Zaku and Dosu. How was Sasuki utilizing the Kyuubi's chakra? Did it have to do with those odd, swirled black marks originating from her neck? Did Orochimaru do that to her? Then how was she using demonic chakra instead of The Snake's like the Zaku and Dosu?

The following massacre made the two ninja that had taken down Lee look like Genin fresh out of the Academy. Wait…weren't most of the Konoha participants in this exam still technically considered fresh out of the academy? Meh, semantics. The point was, Sasuki was literally clawing Zaku and Dosu's faces off.

After effectively knocking out the two of them, the Kyuubi's chakra seemed to recede, an action mimicked by the swirl mark around Sasuki's neck, face, and probably the rest of her body. Sakura felt well enough to crawl over, and noticed that in the spot where Orochimaru had bit the girl there was a decently sized black mark consisting of nine of the smaller versions of the swirl marks that had covered her body. If Sakura didn't know better, she'd say that they almost looked like tails.

"You okay, Sakura?" Sasuki asked, helping her up. The pinkette nodded.

"You went on a bit of a rampage back there. Are you…feeling alright?" Sakura asked.

Sasuki nodded, thinking back to just how odd her dreams had been before waking up.

* * *

She'd woken up as an eleven-year-old girl on her way back to her clan compound. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew which night it was, but just couldn't bring herself to break away and run. Her mind was murky, almost like she was asleep. She probably still was, but that knowledge was of little consolation as she began walking past the bodies of the several clan members that riddled the streets.

It was when she flung the doors open to her parent's room, suddenly noticing that she was running, that the horror finally struck her consciousness. Itachi stood there, an insane smirk on his face. It was so out of character that if she were fully conscious she wouldn't have been afraid, but as it was she was petrified.

Itachi's ninjato cut through her father and mother's necks like butter, and his final words to her began echoing throughout her mind.

_"If you wish to kill me, then hate me and curse my name. Your hatred will make you stronger and stronger. But to hate me, you must run. Run and cling to life like the little insect you are."_

Then things got trippy. Like those civilians who got addicted to special Genjutsu trippy. The world turned to nothing but swirls of purple and black. Itachi stood behind the headless corpses of her parents. "You do want power, don't you?" Itachi asked in a voice that wasn't his own. The rogue Uchiha brought his hand up to his face and peeled away a portion of the skin to reveal a yellow eye with a slit pupil.

"Okay, no."

Sasuki whirled around to see Naruto leaning against the wall with a cold expression on his face. She was shocked that he was here, but for some reason his presence calmed her down. Had she bothered to check, she'd realized that she was suddenly in the form of her current self, rather than how she was during the massacre.

"What are you doing here, boy?" Itachi asked with spite in his voice. Naruto only smirked and brought up his left hand. With nothing but a snap, the world around the three shifted from the blood-stained Uchiha Compound to a sewer. Naruto's back was now against the bar of a large cage, with giant eyes staring eagerly at Itachi, who had now taken on a completely different physique.

"Laying claim to what's mine, Hebi-teme." Sasuki took a step back. This man was Orochimaru? Just what was going on? "You see, Sasuki-chan already has a mark on her, and that little hickey you gave her is a really poor imitation of one. Kurama and I were talking, and we'd figure we might as well highjack it and take advantage of a few benefits."

"What are you saying, boy!" Orochimaru shouted, "No one has ever resisted my mark before, and I'll be damned if I let you be the one to be the first!"

Orochimaru charged at Naruto with several snakes backing him up. Naruto only smirked, inclining his head as he pulled his hitai-ate down a bit. "Get 'im Ku."

Two gigantic red eyes with slit pupils opened up, and a monstrous roar sent a force so large from out of the cage that Orochimaru's assault was instantly halted. Naruto held a hand out to his side, his fingers fully flexed out as one of the bars disappeared from the cage and a humongous fox tail erupted, wrapping around the snake and pulling him inside. The bar was quickly replaced and the inhuman scream that Orochimaru exuded followed quickly.

"Suck it-ttebayo."

Sasuki stood in awe of Naruto. He hadn't even attacked, but she got the feeling that he'd been in control of the battle. "What was that?"

"That's what happens to people who try to take away the ones I hold dear, Sasuki-chan."

"W-why are you calling me that? It's embarrassing."

Naruto grinned. "What? Still forgetting everything? Geez, and after all the trouble I went through establishing a mental link. I'm still unconscious, y'know. Fine, I guess I'll have to jog your memory a bit."

Another snap of Naruto's fingers triggered a massive flood of images all around the two. Every childhood spar from when they were young, how he'd treated her the day after the massacre, the Yondaime Festival where they'd battled in the ring and watched fireworks, her standing up for him against Sakura and Ino, their first kiss at the team assignments, and then again shortly afterwards, their bell test and D-rank missions, and everything that had happened between them in Wave.

Sasuki's eyes went wide at the sudden burst of memory that struck her. Even times when Naruto wasn't around came flooding back. She smiled wide, looking at Naruto in a way she hadn't since before the fight with Zabuza. Naruto returned the glance, deciding that it was time to explain how his augmentations to the curse mark would work.

"Alright, let me give you the rundown. This is Kurama, Ku for short. He's the Kyuubi. No time for stories about names, but the basics are that Hebi-teme tried to give you this thing called the curse mark. It's a type of Juinjutsu meant to erode the mind and make the body more fit for him to inhabit, which is why he looked a little different when we fought him."

Sasuki nodded in response to Naruto's silence, meaning she understood what he meant.

"Right, so I was like 'screw that, I already marked her.' Then Ku and I got to talking and he told me that I could probably kick him out and we could alter the seal a little bit. Right now I'm making it so that instead of Orochimaru being in charge and infecting you with his chakra I can put the chakra that I gave you when we marked each other in there and let it grow. Chances are that you'll have access to a bit of demonic chakra. It won't be enough to hurt you permanently, but it will cause damage when you use it. When you wake up, you'll probably get a little wild until you're accustomed enough to it to pull it back in."

"So does this make me a Jinchuuriki like you or something?" Sasuki asked. Naruto laughed and shook his head.

"Nah, I don't think you'll have enough to get the full perks like quick healing. At least, not when the seal is inactive. I think that the most the seal will contain is a tail or so of Ku's chakra, and it will regenerate over time in between uses. So while you don't have to worry about running out, I also don't want you going too crazy. Got it?"

Sasuki nodded. "Sounds like fun."

"Alright, cool. I'm going to be out for a bit longer, so I need you to go check on Sakura. Think you're up for it?"

"Of course," the Uchiha replied with an arrogant smirk. "She's probably getting her butt kicked by Kiba or something."

"Hey," Naruto countered, "she still has those suicidal chakra and gravity seals on her. She's more than a match for anyone. I'm just worried she's getting ganged up on."

"Alright, alright. I'll go save her butt."

Naruto grinned. "Good girl," he said. He walked in close to her, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. "See you in a few minutes."

* * *

She'd woken up to a surge of power after that. In all honesty if she hadn't been dreaming, she would have freaked out a lot more when Naruto had told her about the Kyuubi – Ku's – chakra. Everything seemed to have worked out though, and she trusted Naruto so she wasn't really worried. Now she and Sakura were sitting around a hastily made campfire as the sun was setting and they were in the colder months. They were careful not to burn anything alive or wet, as that would cause too much smoke and give away their position. Lee's team had come to pick up the taijutsu specialist about a half an hour ago, and that was when the Oto Genin had retreated despite being quivering piles of fear on the floor earlier.

"A few minutes my ass," Sasuki said aloud. She poked Naruto in the head with a stick a few times before tossing it in the fire. "When are you going to wake up you lazy ass?"

Sakura giggled at the antics. "So do you really have your memories back now, Sasuki?" she asked.

The Uchiha nodded, "The important ones, anyways. I'm just glad that Naruto's Fuuinjutsu skill came in handy after the pedophile tried to give me a hickey. If not I might be a little unstable right now. Well, a little more unstable than usual, at least."

The two girls laughed, and the blonde behind them stirred. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Sakura went Super Saiyan, but only because she stole your chakra tags and pulled a you."

"WHAT!" Naruto cried, shuffling around on his person. "Sakura, it took me _months_ to figure those out. They were my secret weapon for the finals, and now I can't use them! I don't have any cool tricks left now! This is blasphemy, _blasphemy_ I tell you!"

"Calm down, Naruto. Just make some more," Sakura sighed. "Don't your eyes let you do that? Automatic seal inscription and all?"

"It's NOT THE SAME! The people you used them on will totally expect it! Now I only have a few hours to think up of something or any fight I get into is totally going to be boring!"

The blonde wasted no time in deploying a few thousand clones into the forest with the simple order of "make up something cool!" the two girls were laughing at him, and all of his clones when they came back with ideas like new taijutsu combos. "No Taijutsu! It has to be flashy and original! I'm totally not copying Lee! Ninjutsu or Fuuinjutsu only!" he quickly 'killed' the ones who came in with stupid ideas, and it looked like he finally got something he could work with by the time Sasuki and Sakura were putting the tent for the night.

Ignoring the fact that he was probably the luckiest man in the universe by getting to sleep in the same tent as two very attractive kunoichi, Naruto entered the sleeping bag in the middle and taking a deep breath of relief.

"So, finally come up with something?" Sasuki asked, unexpectedly awake. Naruto took this as a pleasant surprise, and nodded with a wide grin on his face.

"That fight with Hebi-teme gave me an idea."

"Wanna give me some spoilers?"

Naruto shook his head. "Let's just call it a new twist on an old classic."

"You're no fun," Sasuki retorted.

"Psh, I don't know what you're talking about. You have bijuu chakra now. Would a person who was no fun give out cool abilities like that?"

Sasuki closed her eyes and tilted her head back in thought. Then she rolled over, resting her head on Naruto's shoulder. "No, I guess not. I suppose I can wait until your next fight to see it. Just…promise me something."

Naruto's expression softened, looking over to her and making eye contact. She could see the worry in her eyes. "Anything."

"Don't get yourself hurt just to be original. I don't care if you can't use anything but Kage Bunshin and the Rasengan forever, just try your best not to get hurt."

Naruto pushed back her hitai-ate to plant a kiss on her forehead, pulling her a little closer and wrapping his arm around her waist. "That's not fair. Jutsu creation is ten percent talent and ninety percent perspiration for a reason you know."

"I'm not worried about the sweat, I'm worried about the blood," Sasuki shot back.

"Fine, fine. But there's no reason to worry. Like I said, this is just a little variation of an old technique. Totally harmless."

"I'll hold you to that."

Naruto nodded, the two of them slowly drifting to sleep, back in each other's arms for the first time in months. Naruto was absolutely ecstatic. Sasuki-chan was finally back.

* * *

_**Fastest update time EVER! So yeah, leave reviews and tell me how you guys liked it! I love reviews.**_

_**~Hikaru**_


	17. Confessions

**What's this? An update? And after three long months of waiting? No, that's impossible!**

**Come on guys, you know I'm inconsistant as crap when it comes to update speeds. (Though with any luck I might pull off another three day chapter XD)**

**Anyways, I'd like to point out something huge here. With this chapter, I'm fairly certain that the word count for this story now surpasses 100k. That's right, I'm an elite!**

**Regardless, I'd like to thank all of you for sticking around these past few years (or days, I dunno, some of you guys are newer I guess. Is anyone still around that read the original? If you did, review and I'll send you a cyber-cookie. No, not that kind.)**

**Usual disclaimer applies: I don't own Naruto, Pokemon, or anything else that gets referrenced in here. I'm rather poor, and have weird hobbies like watching anime and genderbending the characters from popular ones to write half-decent fanfics and use them to bounce your hearts up and down like superballs or yo-yos...or something.**

**Speaking of anime I don't own: Check out Sword Art Online, Zero no Tsukaima, Gurren Lagann, Clannad, and Angel Beats if you haven't already. Trust me, you'll love them.**

**And to make these AN's seem even more ridiculously long: I'd like to point out that between Kingdom Hearts 3D and The World Ends with You (I ship Sora/Kairi, Roxas/Xion, Terra/Aqua in KH and Neku/Shiki or Neku/Eri in TWEWY/Subarashiki Sekai for those interested or who want clues as to what I write when I'm not posting on the site...) Square Enix has made me glad I bought my 3DS.**

**And on one final note: I love blank-slate characters. You know, those characters in games or shows that could have the best backstory ever, or would work out perfectly in a certain role for a fanfic (Eri for example!) if someone would just WRITE IT! I like to write those. Heck, I do it with real people sometimes. It's fun.**

**Wow...I'm chatty when it's 3am. Better shut up and just say it.**

**ON WITH THE FANFIC!**

* * *

When morning came Naruto was the first one up. He managed to form a hand seal without waking Sasuki, and quickly sent a clone off to check the snares he'd set up the night before. Maybe they'd caught a Genin with a scroll during the night. It was always a good idea to eliminate even more competition than necessary in tests like this.

This clone was very surprised to find Kabuto stuck up in one of his nets. "Hey Pikachu!"

"I AM NOT A PIKACHU!"

"Well fine then, Pichu! Why are you up in my traps? I mean, I get that if you get caught by a trainer at your level your effort values will make you stronger in the end, but I'm not quite sure that anyone wants an electric type in a forest."

Kabuto's struggles against the metal mesh that made up the net increased tenfold at Naruto's comment. No other exam had been this frustrating for him, and this was his seventh time through. _"Orochimaru-sama better have something nice planned for this brat. I'm not sure I can go much longer without killing him myself."_

Unfortunately, killing Naruto would mean getting out of the net first, and that would mean Kabuto would need some new weapons as they'd all dulled from previous escape attempts. Not even his chakra scalpel had worked, which infuriated him to no end. Who infused ninja wire with chakra, anyways?

Seeing that no good conversation was to be found from Pichu, and that he was the only ninja in the entire forest that had sprung a trap, the clone dispelled quickly. Kabuto let out a roar of fury as it did, and for the life of him tried to tap into some God-given talent for wind chakra that he wasn't aware of. That was the only way he was cutting this wire.

* * *

Back at camp, Naruto blinked a few times before smirking. "Hey girls, someone pressed the 'B' button. Pikachu's a Pichu now."

Sakura let out a huff of frustration. "Oh God, did Kabuto actually get caught in one of your traps? He deserves to devolve for that! Honestly, you even used _glow-in-the-dark ink_ on all your snare seals!"

"I know!" Naruto proclaimed, throwing his arms up. Sakura almost giggled. Almost. Now that Sasuki had her memories back, there was no way she could show any sign of the feelings she held for Naruto. In fact, it was best if she just ignored them in general. Naruto had liked Sasuki from the start, and there was no way that he'd go for her now.

"_**So you're just going to give up!? Weak sauce!"**_ her inner screamed. Sakura visibly stiffened at the sounds. She didn't know why, but part of her had actually expected the voice to vanish now that Naruto was unattainable to her. She didn't take herself as the type of girl to steal a boy away from someone, especially not Sasuki. The two were best friends, weren't they?

"_**Like you don't remember all those boys that you took from Ino, and the ones that she stole from you."**_

Sakura shuddered. That was the old her; the girl who cared more about boys than her duties as a Shinobi. Sure it had only been a few months since then, but in that time she'd gone under perhaps the most physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding training she'd ever known.

What Naruto didn't know about his chakra limiter tags, the ones she'd used to up her reserves to that of a Genin ready to take the Chunin exams in those short months, did just what the name implied. They limited chakra. But that was the thing; chakra was composed of one's own physical and mental energy. Wearing one meant you were taking on both a physical and mental handicap. They didn't affect strength, per se. What they did was limit the energy you could use before getting tired, meaning that she could still punch as hard as always, but just not as often as she might have liked.

As for the mental aspect, Naruto's seal tags weren't just making it harder to use chakra. It made her harder to be…her. With her mental energy limited she was only a ghost of her old self. There were nights where, after she took off the tags, her emotions from the day would come flooding back full force. With a mind able to focus on all of them she quickly found herself enamored in every little thing that happened.

It was probably during these sessions that Sakura first became infatuated with Naruto. He'd been interested in the effect the tags had on her body. Her physical energy, her chakra sensory powers, anything that she could do with her body that was abnormal on the rush of the chakra tags. What she'd kept from him were the stacks of books that she'd leaf through every night and nearly commit to memory. Her reading speed had to be at least ten thousand words a minute. That coupled with the fact that removing the seals would keep her up all night meant that she could go through scads of novels while everyone else was sleeping and her mind was the most emotionally vulnerable, several of those being those emotionally saturated romance novellas that painted such serene and perfect pictures that she was crying by the end.

Naruto was the domineering protagonist that would come to town and find the lonely, plain girl with nothing special to her name and sweep her off her feet. He'd solve all the problems and right every wrong without ever putting the girl in danger. He was strong, handsome, and perfect in every way. In essence, the man that the girl from the academy had always dreamed of – but perhaps with a little more of a realistic tint added to it – during those trips away from reality. She found, however, that she was quickly becoming addicted to the feelings that taking the tags off brought. She was scared to take them off anymore, because now she was finally getting close to being who she was before.

That was the thing, though. Her tags only had so much of a charge before they wore off. That time limit was coming up soon, and she had no idea what she'd be capable of once they did. They had to finish their exam fast, and to ensure that she'd have to tell Naruto about this dilemma.

"_**Or you could wait until you snap and have a little less leeway over our actions and let him find out that way."**_

Sakura shook her head in a desperate attempt to clear her thoughts. She'd always been meticulous with changing out the tags when they ran low. She had no idea what would happen if they were allowed to run dry as they were. She imagined it might be a little like when the batteries ran out on anything else. They'd flicker off and on for shorter and shorter intervals until they just wouldn't switch on altogether.

The thought of losing control like that was tempting. Maybe the more emotional side of her could convince Naruto to try something. That side wouldn't care how selfish it seemed. Her infatuation with the blonde would trump anything else she felt about the situation. After giving it a little thought she decided that it would be okay to wait a bit longer before telling them. If they were worried about her as they tried to get out of the forest then they would be vulnerable to other attacks by Genin teams.

So Sakura, Sasuki and Naruto all took off in full sprint for the tower, ignoring any teams that got near them with more than a little help from the combined brute force of Naruto's clone armies. Sure, it would take up a little of his chakra, but not as much as engaging an enemy head on or trying to silence their movements. Besides, with Naruto's newfound partnership with Kurama it was hardly a challenge to replenish his chakra reserves. Sure he'd get a little more feral, but he heard no complaints.

"_**My God, Naruto is sexy when he goes all animalistic like that!"**_ Inner Sakura cried out. Sakura allowed herself a smirk and a slight nod in agreement.

"Careful, Naruto," Sasuki cautioned.

'_Okay, maybe one complaint. But it isn't that big,"_ Naruto mentally corrected as they burst through the last grouping of trees and right in front of the doors to the tower. "We made it-ttebayo!" the blonde shouted, jumping and kicking open the door while suppressing the urge to scream something along the lines of 'Dynamic Entry!'

"So what now?" Naruto asked, stroking his chin in thought. "I mean, we're at the tower, aren't we supposed to get some huge 'you passed' sign or something?"

The three of them scanned the room for a minute or so, taking in their surroundings. The only really outstanding feature was the large billboard at the front of the room, and even that was slightly illegible due to age and smudged characters. Sasuki was the first to speak up. "Maybe we should open the scrolls."

Naruto shrugged, "Sure, not like we have anything better to do."

After fumbling about in the many storage seals within Naruto's backpack, team seven finally located the two scrolls. Sakura's fingers fumbled with the adhesive attached ends for a second or two before they whipped open revealing what looked like some sort of seal array. Naruto noted quickly that the two scrolls each had half of the whole array, and his vision flashed blue as the text on the scroll began to glow orange.

Manipulating seals in his head was one of the many other miscellaneous skills Naruto had picked up in the forest. By no means did this skill mean he could come up with original seals right off the bat, though. He needed a base to work with, and he also had to learn the mechanics of whatever it was he was trying to use. As it stood, the two seal arrays were simple enough to put together. They were similar to his Hiraishin kunai, but the purpose seemed to be a little different. Naruto's Hiraishin no Jutsu was a way of moving at close to light-speed whereas this seal was a reverse summoning.

Iruka poofed into existence before them, looking left and then right before giving the team a huge smirk of approval. "Congratulations, it looks like you three have made it all the way through. I don't suppose you've already figured out the lessons that this test was supposed to teach you already, have you?"

Naruto blinked a few times, bringing up his hand to scratch thoughtfully at his cheek. "There was supposed to be a lesson to all of this? We kind of just blazed on through the forest and didn't really bother trying to learn much."

Iruka's approval was shaken a little at Naruto's comment, but saved when Sasuki spoke up. "It has to do with the scrolls and that billboard on the wall over there. To get through the forest, most teams would need to have a balance of both strength and intelligence, which is what that poem is trying to tell us."

"Right on the nose. So, do you guys think you're ready for round three? It should start in a day or two seeing as there's still plenty of time. Thanks for that, by the way. You have no idea how bothersome it is just waiting around to get summoned to this tower. I was afraid that it would eat up my whole weekend, but you three just saved it."

Naruto laughed, and after talking for a bit longer he eventually shooed Iruka off to go enjoy himself.

"Alright, I suppose I can head out. If you three have any questions about anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"Wait, Iruka-sensei, what do you know about stage three of the exams? Any info at all would be helpful," Naruto said as he suddenly remembered what he was here for.

"Oh, that? Well, as far as I know it's the same as it is every year. They'll hold a tournament for the aristocrats of all the lands to come together to watch and see how one village holds up against the next. I'm just glad that so many of our Genin have made it through; it will surely bring in plenty of missions for us in the future."

Naruto nodded. So the exams were more of a way of advertising the capabilities of one ninja village against the next? That was interesting. He'd never thought of it like that, though he supposed that these things were better left not too business-oriented as that could possibly detract from training.

"Though, between you and me, I hear that since there are so many people coming in from the second exam with both scrolls that they'll be holding preliminary matches right after this. Then to give enough time for people to gather they'll be staving off the final rounds until next month and telling everyone to train."

"Score! I can totally come up with, like, ten or twelve new awesome jutsu in that time! I mentioned how much I love the Kage Bunshin, yes? Anyways, you're gonna love seeing me in the finals, Iruka-sensei. I'll make it all the way to the top and they'll be forced to make me Hokage right on the spot!"

Everyone went still for a second. Naruto was acting like an idiot again, which was a good sign. Iruka burst out laughing and slapped the eccentric blonde on the back. "I'm sure they will, but in the meantime you should get something to eat and rest up. Well, unless there's anything else I'm going to go ahead and take my leave. See you guys later!"

Team Seven was directed to their room shortly after Iruka took off. It was a nice room, for a temporary apartment that is. It had a closet for the storage of blankets to sleep with as well as a small bathroom sectioned off by the door and even included a tiny kitchen for the easier preparation of the food they were supposed to have packed with them. Naruto set to work unsealing a cup of instant ramen from one of his many scrolls and boiling some water from his canteen. Had it not been for their own hunger Sakura and Sasuki would have laughed at the poor addict. Instead they politely asked for some.

They all ate quickly, trying to make the most of what little time they probably had left as well as stave off the hunger pangs. Sasuki took the opportunity to take a second look at her team mates.

"If you two don't mind me getting all mushy," Sasuki began. She let her voice trail off after that. Sasuki didn't like pointless displays of emotion. It was against her Uchiha upbringing. Her father had always told her that the key to maintaining her pride as an Uchiha was having a stiff upper lip. That meant that petty displays of emotion were not to be tolerated. However, this didn't seem to stop her from doting on Itachi all the time. Perhaps her father just understood the kind of bond they'd had.

What would have turned into a long, silent brood about how Sasuki would one day make Itachi pay for what he'd done was steered off course when Naruto spoke up. "We don't, so just spit it out already, will ya?"

Sakura was tempted to smack the idiotic, albeit still attractive blonde upside the head for such a crass comment. Sasuki needed time to find the right words, didn't he understand that?

"_Then again, why would I help out my rival?" _Sakura asked herself. After all, it was that bitch's fault that Naruto was ignoring her now. She remembered back in the academy when he would do anything for her if she just asked, though usually she'd have to clean his clock because of his repetitive date offers, but now those offers didn't sound too bad at all. In fact, she could probably go out with him for a bowl of ramen, then they'd head back to his place where she'd tackle him to the ground, kiss him, and…and…

"_Oh no! Bad thoughts!" _Sakura mentally gasped, suddenly regaining her composure. The tags were starting to wear off. She'd have to tell Naruto soon. _"Not now, though. By the end of the next round for sure."_

"S-sorry…I was just going to say that it's really nice to be back. I was a little screwy in the head there for a second, but you two really came through for me…especially you, Naruto."

Sakura watched in mild fascination as the blonde scratched the back of his head and gave a soft smile to the Uchiha. "Dun mention it. I did it for entirely selfish reasons, after all."

"Oh, like what?" Sasuki asked, verging on playful.

"Well, seeing the look on Hebi-teme's face for starters. Did you see him when that tail swung out of the cage? He looked like he was ready to piss his pants, especially when it grabbed him. Ku says he didn't taste all that good, though. Like rapist-pedophile mixed with sycophant, whatever that means."

The two shared a laugh, Sakura joining in to avoid being the third wheel, and the three went on as they did, talking the sunlight away.

* * *

"You know, technically this is the second mission in a row where we've encountered an opponent way out of our league. I don't know whether we're lucky to be alive, or unlucky to keep bumping into these people," Sasuki commented with a smirk.

"Well, if you ask me, I think we're lucky to get to fight so many strong people. Push our limits, y'know?" Naruto replied as he threw his hands behind his head and smirked.

With that, Sakura's heart skipped a beat. As time dragged on, her tags were becoming harder and harder to keep up. "Uh…Naruto…could I maybe get some more Inhibitor Tags from you? Mine are running low on juice and I'm starting to feel a little light-headed."

Naruto stroked his chin for a moment, almost as if he were weighing his options. "You know…I really could just whip some out in five seconds flat," he began. Sakura knew there was going to be a catch. There was always some sort of catch.

"**Perhaps he'll ask you to do something embarrassing? Cosplay, maybe? What do you think about Sakura the sexy kitten, or maybe a shrine maiden?"** Inner Sakura began, chuckling to herself. Of course, the chances of that happening were low, but the thoughts were enough to nearly make Sakura go red in the face.

"But you know what, you took my chakra tags. As revenge, I'm not going to give you any more Inhibitors until after your match tomorrow!"

Sakura went wide-eyed with shock. She couldn't hold out that long, there was just no way of doing it. Once those tags shut down for good she'd go wild and Naruto would be on the receiving end of a lot of extra affection on her part.

"Naruto, wouldn't that make it harder for her to fight her match?" Sasuki asked. "Do we really want to risk her not making Chunin because of some silly revenge tactic?"

Naruto's stare was blank. Did Sasuki just advise him against the dangers of revenge? He had to be very careful as to what his next actions were. One small slip-up could cost him his manhood or – more importantly – some well-deserved romance. He'd rather not risk losing that by letting out the loud, bellowing laugh that he could feel bubbling slowly to the surface right now.

"N-no…she'll need the boost to win if she's going to end up fighting some of the people who are going to make it in. After all, if she goes up against Gaara, Fuzzy-brows, or even that one stoic kid that Fuzzy-brows hangs out with then she'll need every edge she can get. Plus, I think it will be hilarious."

The female parts of Squad Seven both heaved out heavy sighs. They knew he was right. As far as she'd come in the past few months Sakura still wasn't on par with someone like Gaara or Lee in head-to-head combat. She'd have to hope for the best luck possible in these rounds if she wanted to be made a Chunin.

After a while of chatting and much practice of Sakura's self-control to avoid snuggling up against Naruto in a way that would compromise her long fought-for dignity the three decided that it was time to go to bed. However, one should not forget to take into account that Sakura was sleeping in very close proximity to Naruto. The pinkette simply couldn't get to sleep, and her gut was telling her exactly why.

"**You need to go over there and hop in bed with him!**" Inner Sakura screamed, a deviously perverted smirk adorning her features. Sakura's blush was furious, and she was glad that both of the other members of her team were incapable of seeing her like this.

But…Naruto was so close…and he looked so peaceful. If she could just get a piece of that, surely she could sleep as well. She could just picture how good it would feel to be wrapped up in his arms with her head in the crook of his neck, listening to his slow intake of breath. She needed that. She needed him.

"_No!"_ she chastised herself mentally. _"Just gotta make it 'til tomorrow…then I'll just throw the match and I can get more inhibitors. After that, it will be like all of this never even happened."_

"**But would Naruto want you to throw the match? You don't want to disappoint him, do you? Come on, one little hug, maybe a kiss. That's all I'm asking for! We need this!"**

"_No! You might, but I don't! I couldn't ever betray Sasuki like that!"_

"**That bitch nearly let us have him the last time we showed interest! Do you really think she'll try to stop us now!? Come on, go over there and show him just how much you love him! How would you feel if Hinata or Sasuki swept in all of a sudden and took your place next to him?"**

Hurt, angry, jealous, miserable, longing, and every other kind of bad possibly imaginable, probably. Sakura's conscience was eroding in face of her emotional need. Any second now, she would crack. And then, until after she got used to the energy that flooded into her from the seals, she wouldn't be able to resist. By then, her emotions told her that she'd belong totally to Naruto, and that she wouldn't even care about what she'd done to Sasuki.

"_S-Sasuki isn't a bitch! She's caring, kind, and vulnerable! We've seen her break down from so many things! She needs Naruto more than we do right now!"_

"**Ha! 'Right now' you say!? Does that mean you're planning on stealing him from her eventually? Trust me, once she gets her claws in him she'll never let go, and there go your chances! Instead, you need to act now, and avoid hurting Sasuki by keeping this secret from her!"**

"_B-but…she'll find out eventually, won't she?"_

"**Not with my help! All you need to do is start spending time alone with that stud, and now it the perfect time to do it! Sasuki won't suspect a thing!"**

Sakura sat there in silence, wondering if she could really go through with this. Could he ask Naruto to compromise his relationship with Sasuki? Could she betray her best friends like that? She couldn't just walk over to Naruto's bed, lie down and cuddle up with him, could she?

Surprisingly, her body seemed to move on its own as if in response to the desire for just that to happen. Soon, she found herself standing right in front of Naruto's sleeping form. She would have gasped had she not known that it would wake him up, which would mean certain demise due to embarrassment.

"N-Naruto?"

The blonde's eyes flicked open almost like he wasn't the slightest bit tired. "Yeah, Sakura? Something wrong?"

"Y-you could say that…I really need more inhibitors. I'm not really sure how to explain why…but if you don't give me more, I won't be able to control myself."

Naruto took that as urgent. He sat up and took hold of the pinkette's shoulders. Her face tinged pink as she gasped, the sudden contact nearly sending her off the edge. "What do you mean you won't be able to control yourself? Is there something you aren't telling me, Sakura? Is it your chakra circulatory system? Your muscle control?"

"No…no, nothing that simple. Naruto-kun, I don't think you can fix this that easily by altering the seal. At least not now."

"_What's with the new honorific out of the blue?"_ he thought, but decided against changing topics. If something was really wrong with her, then she was allowed to get emotional with him. That's what addressing someone as 'kun' or 'chan' meant, right? That you were feeling heavy emotion and you wanted to express it to someone? That's how he'd always used them, at least.

"I won't know unless I try, Sakura-chan," he said, trying to put into his voice just how worried he was about this. "But to do that you need to tell me what's wrong with you."

Sakura's eyes went wide. He was calling her Sakura-chan again. This was her best shot. She needed this, and Sasuki was the last thing on her mind right now.

"My…my heart," she whispered.

Naruto moved in closer. "What?"

His breath tickled against her lips; their faces were so close. She couldn't hold back anymore. Not now. Not when he was so close to her, holding her in his arms and gazing into her eyes with such intensity.

Sakura shot forwards, smashing her lips passionately against his. Naruto was too stunned by her brash actions to do anything at first, but Sakura simply saw that as acceptance of the action. Her heart leaped in her chest as she pulled him down on top of her and continued with the fiery lip-lock.

The second that Sakura's back hit his mattress, Naruto's senses returned and he quickly pulled away. His breathing was a little ragged, as was her own. "Wh-what are you doing, Sakura!?"

Sakura's inner bliss at the shared kiss prevented his opposition from popping her bubble. She knew he wanted this as much as she did. "The inhibitors helped me bottle up my feelings, but after a while all that emotional energy came pouring back out. I've had a bit of a crush on you for a while now, Naruto-kun. But, when the tags you made started to wear off my feelings just got…out of control."

"I'll say," he almost spat. That retort got through to her. She frowned. "What would Sasuki think if she woke up and saw that?"

Whether it was the onslaught of emotional energy working against her, the anger in Naruto's tone mixed with the guilt she felt about Sasuki resurfacing, or a combination of the two, it didn't make the tears that suddenly welled up in Sakura's eyes any less real. "I know…I know. But Naruto, I tried. I told you that they were running low, I asked you for more just now, and you only made it harder for me to control myself!"

She turned on her side, and Naruto felt a sudden separation from the girl. He didn't like it, not one bit. "Look…I'm sorry. I didn't understand the situation. I promise I'll make you some more inhibitors, just let me go get my supplies from my pack alright?"

The blonde tried to get out of bed to walk toward his bag, but he found that the pinkette had a tight hold on his wrist, and short of yanking her out of the bed in what would probably be a terrible move on his part considering her current state he had no choice to but hear her out.

"What is it?"

"I don't want them now. I can wait until after my match tomorrow. Like you said, I'll need the boost, right?" she asked, yanking him back towards her gently. "So you get to deal with this for tonight. Come back to bed and cuddle with me, alright?"

Naruto swallowed hard. "Sakura, you know I can't do that."

"Can't or won't? Naruto-kun, I know you love her, but didn't you used to feel at least somewhat the same about me? Please…just for tonight let me pretend things are still that way. I promise I'll put the inhibitors back on first thing in the morning and then it will be like none of this ever happened."

Naruto sighed. He knew that he was going to regret this later, but he'd never been one to turn down a friend in need, even if that friend was interested in doing non-friendly things apparently. "Alright, but…no more kissing, okay?" He walked back and laid down next to her, propping his head up against his hand.

"Right," Sakura replied, "no more kissing starting…"

She sprung up and pecked at his lips quickly. They both shuddered as sparks of forbidden electricity surged through them.

"…now. G'night, Naruto-kun," she giggled as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Naruto heaved a sigh again. What was he going to do about this? "Yeah, good night, Sakura-chan."

* * *

Naruto was surprised at how the soft weight of the girl pressed against him could be so relaxing, especially when he first woke up. His eyes fluttered open to the gentle sunlight streaking in through the window of the room. It probably wasn't even six in the morning given the summer weather. He looked down to the girl, smiling peacefully in her sleep.

Naruto couldn't stop the smirk from coming to his face. "Yeah…your forehead is still really adorable," he said in barely a whisper. Taking the risk, he took the arm that she was currently using the shoulder of as a pillow and shifted her ever so slightly so that he could more easily brings his lips to the aforementioned facial feature.

A girlish grin and blush adorned her features. "What happened to no more kissing?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and looked away in an embarrassed fashion. She was really good at faking sleep. "Just the lips, then. Anyways, I'll whip you up some new seals, okay?"

The blonde stood, and as he fished supplies out of his pack he took note of Sasuki's stirrings.

Pretty soon Naruto had forged enough seals to last Sakura another few months, and she took them all graciously. "Naruto-kun, can I ask just…just one more favor from you?" Sakura mumbled, looking down at what her heart was currently screaming out would only imprison her feelings and ruin this happiness that she was feeling right now.

Naruto was about to respond, to tell her that there was just now way he could keep doing this, but the sudden words from behind him prevented it. "What's Sakura doing with Inhibitors? I thought you cut her off until the matches were over."

Naruto turned to look at Sasuki and smirked. "Yeah, but she's having issues that are bordering on cruel. I'd rather not torture her, y'know. Might as well break the cycle of revenge here, right?"

Sasuki nodded, then brought her hand up to her chin. "What kind of problems?"

Naruto swallowed. How was he supposed to explain last night without causing either party pain? He'd rather neither party did, but that just seemed unconventional. How could he explain while causing each side the least amount of torment possible?

"I…I got really emotional," Sakura replied, lowering her head. She was just as unsure how to explain the situation to Sasuki as Naruto was.

"I don't see how that's a problem," Sasuki replied. So what if Sakura got a little teary-eyed. There was nothing to set her off around here, was there?

"No, Sasuki-chan…it was like everything I normally feel was multiplied ten times over. Do you understand what I mean? Happiness, Anger…Love…"

Sasuki's eyes went wide. Sakura couldn't possibly mean that last night she'd done something to Naruto. "Did…something happen?"

"I kissed him," Sakura said, bracing for the reaction, "but he stopped me so quickly I thought he'd used Hiraishin, and then he told me that we couldn't. I was pushy, though. You know how it is. Naruto's too nice of a guy, so he let me sleep in his bed last night."

Naruto stood speechless. Sakura was telling the truth. She had the courage to admit to her best friend that she'd tried to make out with her boyfriend, and then ended up sleeping with him. Not only was she probably one of the bravest girls he'd ever met, but she was doing it of her own free will. He hadn't dragged the girl into spilling the would-be secret like he could have been doing now if it was any other person this had happened with. _"You're the best, Sakura-chan. This is why I used to have a crush on you…I think."_

Sasuki absorbed the whole story, and to her credit she never tried to slap Sakura or Naruto throughout the telling. She'd heard of Sakura's attempts at telling the boy what was going on, Naruto's late offer to make more seals for her, and the extreme emphasis put on their 'no kissing' agreement.

"So…what was it you were asking for right before I woke up?" Sasuki eventually asked.

Sakura, with her head still downturned, spoke in a very clear voice. "I was going to ask him to kiss me while I put the new seal on."

"So what are you waiting for, Naruto-kun? Aren't you going to kiss her?"

It was Naruto's turn to widen his gaze. "Sasuki-chan…what is it that you're saying?"

Sasuki took a deep breath. She tried to ignore the ache in her chest, the lump in her throat, and the tears welling up in her eyes that she hoped they didn't see. "I forgot everything about us for a while there. I guess…I guess I let my guard down. It's my fault that you two ended up like this, especially since I knew that Sakura liked you. I deserve this, so you two better make it a good one…because after you kiss her Naruto-kun I want you back."

"No."

Sasuki gasped at Naruto's hasty reply. What did that no mean? Did he not want her back? Did he not want to kiss Sakura? Everything was up in the air. She hated it.

"What do you mean no? J-just kiss her and…"

"No."

That time she was sure he meant he wasn't going to kiss Sakura. Why wouldn't he? He'd obviously done it before, and more than once at that! He had to have liked it, which meant there was no reason he shouldn't do it again, especially since she'd abandoned him when she'd lost her memory.

"Why not? You've done it before, so what's stopping you?"

"I don't want to."

"I deserve this, Naruto-kun. I abandoned you! There's no reason for you to not do this! Is it because you don't want to come back to me? If that's it then just stay with her!"

The room went totally silent after that. Naruto needed to think of how to word this just right.

"I don't want to…because it will hurt you."

"That's what punishments are supposed to do, Naruto-kun. What does it matter, anyways."

That's when Naruto took the Uchiha heiress by the shoulders and looked right into her eyes. "Sasuki-chan…you mean more to me than anything in the world. If I hurt you I hurt myself, too. You are the girl I gave my first kiss to, and you're going to be the last one I kiss as well. That's why I'm going to prove it to you right here and now. I'm not going to kiss Sakura because I'm going to be too busy kissing you."

Sasuki almost had enough time to protest before the lips of her blonde admirer came crashing down on her. They broke for air, and she tried to turn away but his lips were too fast, latching back onto her and dragging her slowly back down into the mind-numbing passion behind his actions.

He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her into the air. There would be no more escape.

Sakura watched all this, and when the ache in her chest became too much she knew what she had to do. She slipped on an inhibitor, and relief of dulled emotion washed over her. Now she could feel the prick of happiness that her two friends had each other over the no longer crushing sadness and jealousy.

When the Namikaze and the Uchiha broke for the last time, and the shorter of the two's feet finally touched ground again, Sasuki was flushed and smiling. "Do you mean it, Naruto-kun?"

"Of course."

The Uchiha turned to face her pink-haired comrade. "Sakura…I forgive you. Are you sure that it's out of your system now, though? You know I wouldn't object to this happening again, but I think you need to worry more about Naruto's reaction than mine at this point."

Sakura smiled. "The backlash from the inhibitor seals amp up emotion past their normal thresholds. I know I seemed a little love crazed back there, but trust me when I say that my normal feelings are nothing like that. I'll move on. It may take some time after last night, but I know I can do it."

"But…what if your seals fail again? Or the side effects become permanent?" Sasuki asked in a genuinely worried tone.

"Then…ménage a trios, I guess?"

Sasuki and Naruto both sputtered at this. "W-what!?" they both cried in unison.

"Kidding, guys. Kidding. Geez, you two are gonna be so easy to mess with!"

And such was the day where Sakura Haruno's relentless joking about her team being a "threesome in more ways than one" began.

* * *

**I'll try to keep these notes shorter and less diary-like...**

**YOU GUYS TOTALLY THOUGHT I WAS GONNA HAVE NARUTO AND SAKURA GET TOGETHER! See what I meant by turning your hearts into yo-yos? I'm evil like that, and not above using cheap tricks like amnesia to do it.**

**Which is why I need reviews to tell me if it's working or not. If I don't get the reactions I desire from you, I'm less motivated to write. Think of this as a troll fic, but the more you make your opinion known, the better it gets. Sound good? Good.**

**Hikaru out!**


	18. Author's Notice

Hey all,

I know it's been a while, but trust me. I have my reasons. Most of them are lazy, some of them involve me getting way too into reading Teen Titans fan fiction and being a moderator on a fairly active role playing site, and some of them are just the sheer fact that I've been editing the plotline a bit.

Yes, you heard right, the edits are taking out previous plot elements and replacing them with new ones. Now, the changes I've made so far cover up to chapter 15, which means that there are two chapters that could technically go live with edits now, but I want to completely wipe this memory loss thing off the face of the planet before I do any updates, and perhaps crank out a new chapter as well.

Yes, that's right. A massive update including new content instead of just updates to old stuff. People who pay attention to the author's notes or the comments I've made from time to time should understand the things that are changing. Previously in the fight with Haku, Sasuki lost her memories. Deciding this was a terrible plot device, I have been taking measures to remove it from the story entirely. Then again, it's been a few months. Maybe I'm just being too secretive.

Naruto and Sasuki as they are now are not developed enough to form a steady relationship. They're immature, hyperemotional, and moreover just plain kids. It's an embarassment, really. Expect them to be called out on for this reason. Expect better pacing of the crawl back up from wherever the hell they are now, and expect notable divergence from the canon not just for Team Seven, but the world of the series overall in the coming chapters. It's the only way I really see a road to redemption for what I've forced you all to think is my best work.

Well, I suppose the only thing I can really say is that I'm not dead yet. Just really busy. I've been neglecting my personal writing for a long enough time now, though. I need to get back into that. Whether it's in How Things Could Have Been, Murigakure no Sato (Which I'm really much more fond of as a premise for a Naruto fan fiction, personally), my own original characters, or something else entirely, I'm not sure. Either way, expect writing from me soon.

Thanks to everyone who's followed the story up to this point. I find my resolve for it entirely absent on some days, and on others I open up Word and feel that urge to edit some content. Mostly though, I'm just looking for people who think this is something worthwhile, something that can be great. I strive for that in my writing.

See you all around sometime, I guess.

- Jin


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